Flames of Friendship
by marcus00721
Summary: How far will Fairy Tail go to protect one person? A battle for one person may change the fate of Fairy Tail...forever.
1. Chapter 1

Alarms blared loudly, the red lights flashing on and off as a monotonous voice filled the building. "WARNING, WARNING. TEST SUBJECT #05 IS ESCAPING!" The sound of heavy footsteps against the cold steel floor echoed throughout the building loudly.

"Don't let her escape!" A scientist shouted amongst the group of guards.

Pair of bare feet was running across the cold floor; the person was panting heavily, tears streaming out of their eyes. "I'm so close…!" They thought as they continued to run; they never looked back, they couldn't; if they did, it was over. The person quickly ducked into a secluded corner to catch their breath. The person was a young girl. She had black hair, which she let down, and blue eyes. She was in nothing but a pair of blue shorts and a white shirt. Her body was covered in bruises and dried blood, but she couldn't stop. She needed to catch her breath. After a minute or so, she got up and started to run again. "I need to escape!" She continued running; she made a sharp turn down a corridor, only to gasp when she saw a barricade of guards awaiting her. "N-No!"

"Surrender yourself right now and go back to your room!" The guards commanded in unison, "Otherwise we WILL use force!"

She was already exhausted; she had used up most of her magic power trying to escape; she knew she'd run into resistance, but this may have been too much for her. She had to think, and fast. "NO!" Without a second thought, a flame appeared in her hands, and she threw it at the barricade of guards, causing an explosion and sent them all hurtling away. She then ran past the used to be barricade, and quickly ran down the stairs of the large building, panting, "Almost there…Almost there…!" She pushed the doors open to the main room, only to be greeted by a larger barricade of guards, and the head of the building. The head of the building had his hair over his eyes, and his head tilted so that there was only a shadow where his eyes are.

"Now now…I think you've been running long enough, don't you?" The head said, sighing as he crossed his arms. "I think you should just go back upstairs, and we'll all forget this ever happened.

"N-NO!" She shook her head, gritting her teeth as her unkempt hair fell over her eyes, "I'm not going back up there! You are evil! This place is evil!" She took a step back, flames surrounding her body.

The man sighed, not exactly surprised by the girl's outbursts, "I was afraid of this…you know what we're doing is for your own good, right?"

"Then why is does it hurt?! Why do you smile when I'm in pain!? That's not what you're supposed to do!" Tears continued to stream down her cheek as she spoke, taking a step forward this time, the floor under her feet sizzling from her heat.

"If you won't return peacefully, then I guess we'll have to use force…guards." He pointed his finger forward, and the guards then shot lightning from their fingers, shocking the girl, causing her to shriek out in pain as she slowly stepped forward. "W-What the…?"

"I WON'T GO BACK!" She screamed out loudly, her voice echoing throughout the entire building, much louder than the constant blaring of the alarm and the warning voice; the flames around her body flared powerfully as it blocked out the incoming lightning. "I WON'T I WON'T I WON'T!" She let out a powerful scream as her flames sudden rose even more, engulfing the entire building; before anyone had a chance to react, a large explosion overtook the building.

The smoke from the explosion cleared slowly; the girl had finally made it outside. She smiled as her bare feet ran across the soft, yet cold snow. Her flames kept her warm, but only for a moment. She winced as she realized her last use of magic had completely drained her; she fell over as she passed out, and rolled down the snowy hill; her destination unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Near the lively town of Magnolia, a single guild stands. This guild has seen and been through countless hardships and battles; however, they always found a way to make it out safely. This guild's members have the most heart out of anyone in the land of Fiore, and they make it known. This guild's name is Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail is usually a lively place, and today was no exception.

"You wanna go, ice breath!?" Natsu was forehead to forehead with his childhood rival, Gray Fullbuster; the two had been head to head like this before and as usual, it was over something trivial. Then again, one would guess that is what makes them true rivals.

"Sure thing, Flame Brain!" Gray smirked, confidently.

"What are they fighting about THIS time…?" Lucy groaned as she face planted into the table.

"Oh, you know, same old same old, Lu-chan…" Levy smiled and laughed nervously, then went back to the book she was reading.

"Those two need to chill out sometimes," Cana sighed while sitting cross legged on the floor; she casually picked up a full barrel of beer and began to chug it down without a care in the world.

"I AM chill," Gray commented over to the side before butting heads with Natsu once again.

Lucy sighed, just looking around the building, "Hm? Where's Erza?"

"She went out on an S Class job earlier this morning," Levy answered, not looking up from her book, "She should be back in a little bit, actually."

"Oh, I hope she's alright," Lucy, replied.

"She's Erza! Of course she's alright!" Levy looked up from her book and smiled reassuringly. Before anyone else could say another word, Natsu swung at Gray with a flaming fist; hitting Gray right in the chest and caused him to fly into the wall, "Oh boy..." Levy sighed heavily.

"Here we go again…" Lucy groaned, slowly sliding her way out from the middle of the fight.

"Oh that is IT!" Gray placed his hand in his palm, a cold wind surrounding his legs, "Ice Make!" Before he could finish, the doors creaked open slowly, a high sound catching everyone's attention, "Huh?"

A figure was standing at the door; this figure was also carrying someone. The figure stepped forward, and everyone gasped. The figure was hooded, so their face was hidden; but that's not what caught everyone's attention. What caught everyone's attention was the person slung over the figure's shoulder, unconscious, Erza Scarlet.

"Erza!" Lucy gasped, covering her hand over her mouth from shock.

"Erza!" Gray dropped his fight with Natsu and ran over to the figure; however, the figure only chuckled as they threw Erza violently at Gray. Gray caught Erza, but the force of the throw was so powerful that Gray flew back into the wall again.

"She's weak," the figure chuckled, dusting off their hands.

"I'll show you weak!" Natsu's hand was engulfed by an orange flame that grew stronger along with his rage, "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu reared his fist back, swinging at the figure; he landed a direct hit, but the figure faded as it let off a creepy laugh; the figure was nothing more than an illusion.

"W-Where's Wendy!?" Lucy asked, frantically looking around the guild.

"She's not here…!" Levy answered, panicking slightly.

"Where did that bastard go!?" Natsu looked ran outside, looking around wildly for the hooded man, "I'll make him pay for this!"


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu had been tied down to a chair, flailing around, causing the chair to wobble as flames erupted from his body every two seconds; he was absolutely lived. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" He kicked and screamed, his voice slightly rumbling the guild, "I WANNA GET BACK THOSE BASTARDS WHO DID THAT TO ERZA!" He spewed flames from his mouth, but they were to no avail, as he didn't hit anything or anyone.

"N-Natsu! Calm down!" Lucy too, was freaking out about this; but she had to be a calm one out of everyone in the guild. Someone had to try and calm the hotheaded Dragon Slayer down before he did anything rash, and Lucy was usually one who could put a cap on some of his anger, "We'll wait until Erza wakes up, and then we'll ask, okay!?" Natsu only gritted his teeth, sitting around and waiting while someone who had just harmed his nakama like that was just walking around, scott free was something he just couldn't stand; even though he was tied down, he wasn't going sit around.

"I ain't waiting! Lemme out of the chair and I'll pound the guy who did that to her!" Natsu shouted once more, flailing in his seat, actually making some leeway in freeing himself.

"S-Someone hold him down before he gets loose!" Levy flailed her arms, the thought of an enraged Natsu freely roaming around producing bad results already.

Lucy took Natsu's hand in her own, looking Natsu right in the eyes with a smile, "Natsu…" Natsu stayed silent for a few moments as he made eye contact with Lucy, turning his eyes away as her attempts to comfort him did manage to calm him down just a bit. Wendy and Carla walked into the main area of the guild; Wendy was wiping some sweat off her forehead; Levy, Cana, Gray, and the rest fo those inside the guild immediately rushed over to her, while Natsu just hopped on his chair over. Wendy was flooded with questions about Erza's wellbeing, and she was a bit overwhelmed due to the sheer number of people talking over each other.

"G-Guys…! P-Please, calm down!" Wendy flailed her arms around, trying to calm the raging sea of noise and people; the noise did slowly die down eventually on its own as people realized their questions weren't getting answered.

"How is she…?" Cana asked, drinking from her small flask right after.

"She had serious wounds; they're all fixed now, but she's resting," Wendy sighed, poking her fingers together. She wasn't nervous or anything, but it was the thought of Erza's defeat that worried her; how could Titania be defeated like that?

"Something else had to have happened to her, right?" Gray asked; his shirt had magically vanished from his body, causing Juvia to stare at him from a corner with hearts in her eyes.

"She barely had any magic power left in her body at all," Carla commented, looking up at everyone with a stern look. Hearing all of this only started to uncap Natsu's anger, but Lucy kept her hand over his to calm him down, and it was working to some extent, as Natsu would've burst out of the chair and run out on his own by now.

"She'll be better once she wakes up," Wendy said in a reassuring tone, I'm sure you all want to see her, ne?"

"Who could've done that to her…" Happy mumbled sadly, looking down at the ground. Erza…defeated…

"When she wakes up maybe she can tell us something about what happened…" Levy sighed.

A few hours passed, and Erza slowly made her way out of the infirmary room, covered in bandages; however, she wasn't happy to see everyone, she was looking down at the ground, her head angled so that her scarlet hair created a shadow over her eyes, blocking them from sight.

"Erza!" Natsu suddenly freed himself from the chair, rushing over to Erza, looking her over, "Are you okay!? Who's the guy who did this to you; I'll burn him to ashes!" Erza was unresponsive, deadly silent, causing Natsu to back up a bit, "Huh…?"

"Erza…?" Lucy looked over at the scarlet haired mage cautiously, knowing something was wrong with her. The guild looked over at Erza silently; thought she wasn't looking, she could feel the eyes of all her guild members on her, "I'm sorry, everyone…" Erza mumbled quietly, feeling just like a failure, she couldn't complete a simple mission. She felt as though she disappointed everyone who looked up to her, "I'm sorry I disappointed you…"

"Hey…" Natsu walked over to Erza's side, placing a hand on her shoulder, his back turned to everyone else, "You're not a disappointment. You're a Fairy Tail wizard, and what matters is that you did what you could to the best of your ability. We all fail sometimes, but the next thing to do after is pick yourself up and try again. I know I'm not going to stand around while those guys who hurt you are roaming around. Tell me who did this, and I'll be sure to make them pay." Erza just stood there silently, unresponsive.

"I'll go with you too, Natsu!" Lucy nodded firmly.

"Aye, sir!" Happy shouted gleefully, his way of saying he was going as well.

"I ain't gonna let those guys get away with that either. Something has to be done," Gray nodded as well.

"I'll go with you guys too!" Wendy nodded, looking over at Carla, who sighed softly, her way of saying she was going to go too.

"I was sent on an S Class mission," Erza said in a strict tone, having unmoved an inch. Her tone caused everyone to freeze. Was Erza seriously not going to go back nor let her guild members take any action?

"B-But, Erza!" Happy stammered.

Erza's body then began to glow as the armor she usually wears appeared over her bandaged body, Erza looked up at the four, smiling just slightly, "But if I go, then you all can come with me."

"Yeah!" Natsu raised his fist high into the air, grinning widely, "That's the Erza I know! Let's go kick some ass!"


	4. Chapter 4

Natsu kicked open the doors to Fairy Tail, walking outside with Gray, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Carla, and Erza. "Alright! Tell us what we have to do and where we have to go, Erza!" Natsu shouted happily, pounding his fist together from the excitement.

Erza motioned for the group to follow behind her as she started walking, "The details of the mission were to bring down several dark mages who are a threat to society; they're based in a building at the base of the snowy mountains."

"Snowy mountains…?" Gray repeated.

"That's near…" Lucy started, subconsciously clenching her fist, from a memory.

"It's not them," Erza stated, "None of those mages had their guild mark."

"E-Erza-san…?" Wendy whispered just barely audible.

Erza turned to look over her should at Wendy, "Yes, Wendy?"

"How did they beat you…?" Wendy asked, poking her fingers together shyly, unsure if she should've asked that.

Erza remained silent for a few minutes before sighing, "It was an ambush. A member posed himself as someone being attacked; I went to help them only to be ambushed. I had my magic power drained and the next thing I knew I was in the infirmary…"

"Did you get a look at them?" Carla asked, her wings extended as she and Happy flew beside Wendy and Carla.

"Unfortunately, I didn't," Erza sighed, "But I'll know them when I see them; and I won't lose once again to them."

"I can't wait to punch those guys in the face, my fist are shaking from excitement!" Natsu grinned, throwing an arm up into the air with a clenched fist.

"Wait until we get there before you start throwing punches, Flamebrain," Gray sighed.

"You should be quiet before I throw the first punch at you, Underpants" Natsu remarked immediately.

"Gray. Natsu," Erza's tone was deep and menacing, causing the two males to snap back to normal from fear.

"Erza-san sure has a way with words…" Wendy said in a slightly nervous tone, covering it with a nervous giggle.

After about an hour of walking, the group finally made it to the base of the snowy mountains. A light snow was progressively increasing in aggressiveness every few minutes. The group stopped in front of an old, three-story mansion standing in front of them.

"Is this the place…?" Lucy asked, looking over at Erza for confirmation.

Erza nodded slowly, "Yes, this is the place. Don't let its looks fool you; this place is filled with traps, mostly to keep official guild members like ourselves out."

"W-What's with all this snow…?" Wendy stammered, rubbing her arms in attempt to keep warm.

Carla looked over at Wendy in concern, "Let's hurry inside, you could get sick from this cold…"

"Aye…" Wendy nodded, and the group slowly walked towards the mansion.

As they approached the building, silver lances rained down from the sky onto the group. Gray noticed this right away and struck his fist into his palm, a frozen wind appearing around his feet, "Ice Make: Shield!" A crystallized ice shield appeared over the group, blocking the silver lances; the shield eventually gave out as Gray flew back, skidding across the snow. A female with long white hair and red eyes approached. This female seemed to be in her late teens, and she was wearing a thick black jacket, black jeans, and black boots.

"You've returned, Titantia?" The female raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on her hip, "And you brought back up?" The female snickered, "It's just gonna be a repeat of last time, you know."

The woman's remarks made Erza growl, but Gray stuck his arm out to hold Erza back, "I'll take care of this girl, you guys go inside." The group nodded, running inside the run down mansion.

"Oh? And who might you be?" The girl asked in a curious tone.

"Gray Fullbuster, the one and only Ice Make Mage from Fairy Tail," Gray slid into the stance his teacher, Ur, had taught him many years ago while eying the female.

"Ice Make Mage? Interesting," The girl also slid into a stance, placing her fist into her palm, smirking, "My name is Melody Silver, Silver Make Mage," she said with a prideful tone, "Silver is harder than ice, you know~."

"Oh yeah? Ice Make: Lance!" A blue magic circle appeared as Gray threw his arms forward, crystal ice lances firing from the magic circle from all directions, all aimed at Melody.

"Mhm~." Melody nodded, not fazed by the amount of lances flying towards her, she calmly spoke, "Silver Make: Lance," as she through her hands forward, a silver magic circle appearing an equal amount of silver lances shot out from the magic circle. The Silver lances easily shattered the incoming ice lances and struck Gray, causing him to slid back across the snow, a shocked expression on his face, "Surprised, are we? Don't worry, sweetie, there's more where that came from."


	5. Chapter 5

Having to leave Gray behind to Melody, the group of Natsu, Happy, Carla, Erza, Wendy, and Lucy stepped inside the old mansion; immediately walking to the foyer. There were several figures that hid their faces with hoods, and they all beckoned the group to come closer. Natsu took this chance immediately as he ran forward with his fist in flames, "I'll get you all in one shot!" Natsu roared, charging recklessly with Happy following behind him.

"Natsu, wait!" Erza attempted to give chase, but she stepped on a tile on the floor, causing the a spring to shoot her through the ceiling, causing her to yelp out as she crashed onto the upper floor.

"She's mine," one of the hooded people grinned, vanishing.

"Hey, get back here!" Natsu stepped on a tile, the tile rising off the ground slightly, causing his face to turn blue, and his cheeks to puff out.

"N-Natsu-san!" Wendy covered her mouth from shock, and quickly attempted to use a Troia spell to rid Natsu of the motion sickness, but it was too late as the tile had crashed through the wall over to the right, and Happy gave chase.

"NATSUU!" Happy quickly followed the tile, flailing his arms around.

"I'll take him," Another figured whispered, running off to the right.

"Watch your step, Wendy!" Carla picked up Wendy, spreading her wings so she could fly over the dangerous tiles.

Lucy pulled out her whip, using it to wrap around a support beam as she pulled herself forward; but she was cut short when another hooded figure shoulder tackled her through the wall to the left, causing Lucy to yelp out in pain and surprise.

"Lucy-san!" Wendy cried out, then she looked at the lone figure ahead of her; the figure smirked, opening the door behind them and stepped through the door, "A-After them!"

"What!? Are you serious?!" Carla looked down at Wendy, but Wendy seemed determined.

"I know the others can take care of themselves, so let's do our share!" She nodded, smiling up confidently at Carla.

.

.

Outside the mansion, Gray was having a harder time than he thought he would with the Silver Make Mage, Melody. Gray placed his fist into his palm once more, looking up at the girl with a determined look, "Ice Make: Hammer!" A blue magic circle appeared and a large ice hammer shoot out from the circle, hurtling itself towards Melody.

"Silver Make: Wall," Melody spoke calmly, a large silver wall shooting up from the ground, blocking and shattering the ice hammer as it hit the wall.

"Damn...!" Gray clenched his teeth, he didn't think this girl would give him this much trouble. He had yet to land a single hit on her.

Melody smirked, slowly flipping her silver hair with sass, "Ready to give up?"

"You wish!" Gray took a firm hold of his shirt, and threw it off to the ground, "Enough playing around."

Melody stood in shock, her eyes widening, "Did you just…"

"Ice Make: Geyser!" Gray planted his hands on the ground, a large ice geyser shooting up and trapping Melody, dealing a decent amount of damage as the ice shattered, Gray continued this assault, running forward across the snow, "Lance!" He threw his hands forward once again, crystallized ice lances shooting forward, all of them hitting Melody this time around as she was distracted from Gray stripping, causing the silver haired girl to fall on her butt, "Had enough?" Gray said with a smirk.

Melody rubbed her head as she stood up, looking at Gray's shirtless body, "O-Oh my…those abs…that shape…he's so fit…" She thought, "And he stripped just for me…" She could feel her heart pumping faster and faster against her chest; eventually, hearts came into her eyes as she stared at Gray, "Graaaaay-Sama…"

Gray blinked, his eyes widening slightly as he looked around, "J-Juvia…?"

"I don't know who Juvia is, Gray-sama…but Melody must defeat Gray-sama, and then…" She grinned as thoughts started flooding her mind, "If Gray-sama will strip, so will I!"

"Wait what!?" Gray blurted out; Melody then took a grip of her black jacket, and threw it off into the snow, now wearing nothing but a bra, her pants, and the black boots.

"Silver Make: Heart!" Melody clapped her hands together, a large silver magic circle appearing in front of her; seconds later, a large silver heart shot out from the magic circle and rushed towards Gray.

"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray attempted to cover himself with an ice shield once more, but the silver heart easily shattered the shield and make a direct hit with Gray, causing him to tumble over in the snow before coming to a stop, "W-What the…it's like she got stronger…!?" Gray stood up slowly, panting as his body was now covering in marks. Melody was staring at Gray with a creepy, love filled, smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu landed in a room with foot deep water, rafts covering the entire water. He stood on a raft, his cheeks puffing out and sagging over as his motion sickness started to take effect. "Urk…ugh…." He groaned, swaying over to the side, almost falling over. The hooded figure who had chased after him threw their hood off, revealing themself a black haired male to be about in their 20's; slim, well built with brown eyes.

"Oh, is the Salamander sick?" The male said tauntingly. "If you haven't guessed, we are the elite force of mages who brought down your precious Titania. I am the water mage, Byron."

"I'll-I'll get you!" Natsu said through a sickened voice, unable to move.

"I'd like to see you try…" Bryon chuckled before sending a sharp, dense, wave of water towards the defenseless Natsu.

"Natsu!" Happy flew into the room, quickly grabbing Natsu by his back and lifted him into the air, almost removing the motion sickness.

"Happy!" Natsu grinned over to his blue Exceed before glaring over at Blake. "You hurt Erza, huh? I'm gonna make you pay for that tenfold!" Happy flew over to Blake as Natsu cocked a flaming fist back, throwing forward once he reached the water mage, "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

"Water Wall!" Byron threw his arms forward, creating a dense wall of water to protect himself from Natsu's fist; Natsu didn't let up, he clenched his teeth, adding more power into his fist, growling as he attempted to push through, "GRR….!"

On the top floor, Erza was clashing with an elemental mage, one who had the ability to shift their element from fire, to ice, to wind, etc. The male had long blonde hair, an open vest with baggy pants; they were silent, however. Erza requipped into her Flight Armor, dual wielding swords as she dashed towards the male with increased speed due to her armor. Erza swung a blade, but the male dodged it effortlessly. The male then formed a blade of fire in his arms, swinging it at Titania, but she swiftly dodged, quickly running across the floor for another assault.

"Fire wall…" the male said silently, several walls of fire appearing around Titaina, surrounding her. The walls then collapsed on her, causing the male to smirk. "Too easy…" From the smoke the flames had caused, Erza lung out of the smoke in her Flame Empress armor, an armor that lowered the effectiveness of any flame by fifty percent, meaning she still took damage. Erza swung her red flaming sword at the figure, but he jumped back, landing on a table, "Sloppy still, I see…" the male shook his head, chuckling slightly, "The elemental master, Mike, which is I, will show you your weakness, Titania. We've beaten you once, and we'll do it again."

"Not while my friends are here, you won't!" Erza lunged at Mike, changing into her Giant's Armor, which increased the effectiveness of the uppercut she gave Mike, sending him through the roof and landing on the ceiling; Erza jumped up, facing Mike with a glare.

Wendy and Carla were in hot pursuit of the figure floating in the hallway. Thanks to Carla's flying, she did not have to worry about Wendy stepping on a tile and possibly being injured. The figured found a way around this, as they held a finger in the air, causing chunks of the wall to fly towards the two. "Carla, look out!" Wendy cried as Carla started to maneuver around the chunks of wall. Unfortunately, there was not much room to maneuver for the female Exceed, in the narrow hallway. The figure removed their hood, showing their face. It was a female with blond hair tied into a ponytail and blue eyes, giggling at the pair chasing her.

"Come on, you can do better than that, can't you, Fairy Tail!" She brought her hands together, sending two large chunks of the wall over at Wendy and Carla.

Wendy's eyes widened, and she immediately puffed her cheeks out, "Tenryū no Hōkō!" She opened her mouth, sending a sky blue hurricane towards the incoming chunks, breaking them into harmless rocks that bounced off the two. Wendy let off a sigh of relief, "That was close…"

"Not bad!" The female suddenly floated in front of the two, holding her hands out, "Force Push!" A powerful force pushed Wendy and Carla back, Carla losing her grip on Wendy as a result as Wendy skidded on her back across the carpet.

"Wendy!" Carla's wings reappeared as she flew towards Wendy.

"Stay put, kitty cat~." The female held her hands out, pulling chunks out of the wall to form a wall of rubble to stop Carla from getting to Wendy.

"C-Carla!" Wendy took in another deep breath, but a force pushed her face first against the wall, causing her to cough violently, "Agh!"

"You're playing with me now, "Wendy"," the female said, smirking as she threw her hand to the side, slamming Wendy into the wall, causing her to cry out in pain, "You can heal right? Oh wait…Sky Dragon Slayer magic users can't heal themselves…" She pretended to sound disappointed at she flung Wendy into the ceiling, watching Wendy fall to the ground struggling to move, writhing in pain.

Lucy crashed into a large circular room, quickly rolling onto her feet as she glared at the one who sent her through the wall. A male with spiky yellow hair walked into the room, shaking his head slightly, "Oh…I would be the one who gets the short end of the straw…"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Lucy reached for one of her keys, keeping a steady eye on the male in front of her.

"I mean I WOULD get the weakest of the bunch," The male sighed once more, shaking his head again.

"Oh yeah!?" Lucy held one of her keys out forward, "The gate of the ram, I open thee! Aries!" A bright white light shone from the tip of the key, but the male quickly responded by flash stepping in front of her, swinging his leg at Lucy's arm, causing the key to fly onto the ground, and Lucy to hold her hand, "W-What the?!"

"I hope you can keep up…" In a flash, he vanished, only to appear behind Lucy, "Thunder Palm." He calmly placed his palm on Lucy's back, sending a high voltage shock through Lucy's body, causing her to yelp out in pain before the voltage knocked her into the ground.

"W-What was that…?" Sparks danced around Lucy's body for a second before she stood up slowly, pulling out her whip. She aimed her whip at her opponent's legs, but the male moved too quickly, arriving in Lucy's face once again, a powerful thunderbolt striking his body as the force blew her back to the ground. "GAH!"

"Oh really? I expected more from the Celestial Spirit Mage of Fairy Tail…" The male raised his hand, a large ball of electricity forming, "One shot otta do it…"

"Ice Make: Lance!" Several crystallized lances slammed into the male's side, the surprise attack sending him into the wall.

"Gray?" Lucy looked up in the direction the lances came from, a shattered window. But, the figure standing in the window wasn't Gray. It was a brown haired male wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket, along with a pair of sneakers. Lucy's eyes widened when she laid eyes on this figure, "Luke…"

"Aye…" The male with brown haired spoke, shaking his head at the downed blond, "Don't tell me this is all your training has gotten you, amigo."


	7. Chapter 7

The brown hair male hopped from the window and down to the ground across from Lucy, folding his arms, "Is that really all you got?" Luke asked, shaking his head with a taunting smirk forming across his lips.

Lucy scowled as soon as she recognized him, standing up with her hands on her hips, "What are you doing here, Luke?" She asked demandingly, "This is an S Class mission, and as far as I remember, you aren't an S Class mage!"

"Relax, amigo," Luke said while shrugging, "The other will be here soon, I just decided to step ahead." As Luke spoke, the blonde haired thunder mage morphed into a thunderbolt and attempted to attack Luke from behind, but Luke saw such a ruse coming. Luke quickly pivoted on his foot 45 degrees and elbowed the dark mage in the nose, causing the mage to stumble back, eventually losing his footing and falling on his back.

"And why did you take this job in particular?" Lucy huffed, not buying that Luke came along with others, reaching over, and picking up the key that knocked out of her hand.

"Word spreads around quickly, don't you know?" Luke gave a semi toothy grin, "We heard Titania was defeated. Of course, we know you Fairies don't go down without a fight. Therefore, the others and I decided it would be a good idea to show just how strong we are by taking down the ones who defeated the legendary Titania. Of course, we expected a particular group of people to appear here, and surprise, here you are."

Lucy scoffed, moving her head to the left as the Dark Mage attempted to blindside her, then threw a Lucy Kick to the male's abdomen, causing him to stumble back.

"You look like you're having a difficult time, would you care for some help?" Lucy offered, his tone sounding as though he didn't really care either way.

"I don't need your help!" Lucy shouted, glaring at the brown haired mage with distain.

"I was just offering. I do not think you see what this situation is. You see, I'm on a job, along with a few others. Our mission is to take that guy," He pointed to the blonde haired dark mage, "Surge, I believe, down. Now, it does not matter if you want my assistance or not. Either it be by tag team, you, or me, this guy is going down. I'll gladly take the both of you myself, because we already know you can't beat me."

Lucy growled; Luke's comment about being unable to beat him got under her skin, "I'll show you how strong I am!" She pointed her key around, a bright glow appearing on the tip, "Open the gate of the Ram! Aries!" A magic circle appeared briefly as one of Lucy's Celestial Spirits, Aries, appeared, shifting around nervously.

"I-I'll do my best!" Aries nodded, bending over as she stuck her hands out, "Wool Bomb!" A could of pink, fluffy wool surrounded Surge, putting him into a state of comfort as Aries vanished.

"…D-Did she really have to bend over to do that?" Luke coughed awkwardly.

"…" Lucy didn't respond, instead she was focusing on getting another key ready, "Gate of the-"

Before Lucy could respond, Luke had already jumped forward, puffing his cheeks out, "Roar of the Ice Flame Dragon!" He combined two different Dragon Roars into a funnel of brilliant flames and glorious ice, the dual roar striking Surge while on the comforting fluff, a large explosion rocking the room as a smoke cloud formed.

"I said I didn't need any help!" Lucy blared out, completely enraged at Luke for his intervention.

"And I said I was on a job," Luke replied calmly. He looked over as the smoke cleared, noticing that Surge was down for the count, "Huh. Looks like I two hit KO'ed him…"

"I was the one who trapped him with Aries!" Lucy shouted out angrily, Luke's simplest attitude towards him getting under her skin too much.

"You trapping him didn't matter," Luke, added in, smirking, "You only hit him with what, a simple kick? That probably didn't do any damage either…"

"Okay you know what!" Lucy clenched her teeth, "You wanna go right now!? I'll take you down!" She and Luke were forehead to forehead, Lucy growling, Luke smirking

"Yes, I'd love to take you down once again, but…" Luke back away, looking around, "Don't you have friends who are fighting too?"

"Ah…!" Lucy's eyes widened, "Natsu! Gray…Erza, Wendy!"

"I thought so…" Luke started to walk off, "Me and my team will just take the rest of these guys out and you guys can go home."

Lucy gripped Luke by the back of his shirt, scowling, "No way," She said in a low voice, "These guys hurt Erza…, and it's our job to make sure they pay for it!"

Luke stopped, Lucy's grip a bit tighter than he expected, "I see what you mean, but…I'm on a job, and it's our job to make sure these guys are brought down. I don't think the others will care much if you guys have a personal vendetta against these mages or not."

"Don't get in Fairy Tail's way, Luke," Lucy demanded.

"Don't get in our way either, Lucy," Luke escaped from Lucy's grip, walking out of the room. Lucy followed him, just to make sure he would not interfere.


	8. Chapter 8

"Die!" The female magic used a sort of telekinesis to force Wendy into the wall of the narrow hallway, the pressure steadily increasing, "I want to hear your bones snap…" She said with a sadistic grin.

"T-Tenryū no... Hōkō!" Wendy managed to fire off a Sky Dragon's Roar at the female, sending her through the wall, causing Wendy to fall on the color, coughing. Wendy quickly stood up, her body giving off a faint aura, "Fast wind that run the heaven, VERNIER! Power of the stout arms that tears heaven... ARMS." Her body then gave a glow as her offensive and speed were increased. Using her new enhancements, she flew into the hole the Dark Mage made, spotting the mage outside the building, most likely at the back now, slowly getting up.

"You brat…" The mage slowly got up, dusting her off, "Melody, Surge, Byron, Greg, and I, Veronica, will crush you Fairy Tail Wizards!" A think purple substance appeared over Veronica's hands, "I'll let the poison take care of you!"

Wendy's eyes widened at the scent of poison; if she was hit by that, she knew she'd be in major trouble, "I have to watch out…!" She thought; Veronica quickly cut off her thoughts by rushing forward with lightning fast punches. Luckily, Wendy had increased her own speed, so she was able to keep pace with the poisonous mage as she dodged the punches, as dodging was all she could do now.

"This girl is crazy…" Gray panted, knowing he was on the losing end on his battle with Melody. His body covered in bruises and cuts as he looked over at the silver haired Silver Make Mage, who was also covered in bruises, but far less than Gray.

"The master won't mind if I drag your unconscious body back inside, I'm sure." Melody giggled, her eyes glued to Gray as she watched Gray's every moment.

"Even crazier than Juvia…" Gray shook his head, knowing he had to end this battle right now, "Ice Make: Ice Bringer!" Two large blades of ice appeared in his hands; he then rushed forward towards Melody, slashing the blades in an X formation.

"Silver Make: Wall!" A sliver wall shot up in front of Melody just as Gray slashed, his swords vanishing and the wall shattering. A sick grin slowly appeared on Melody's face a magic circle appeared in her hand, "Silver Make:-" She then squeaked from pain as a magical bullet flew through her stomach. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell back into the snow, unconscious as her blood stained the white snow.

"What the!?" Gray turned around, spotting a tall, slender male with messy black hair, blue eyes, long sleeved shirt, black pants and shoes, standing a few yards away from the actual battle scene itself with a sniper rifle.

"Oh, look at that, I hit her," The male smirked, the sniper rifle he was holding fading away.

"You…" Gray turned, looking at the male with disgust.

"Calm down, stripper boy," the male said, walking right past Gray.

"What are you doing here?" Gray demanded, standing in place.

"On an S Class job, of course," the male replied, "If you haven't noticed, if Titania couldn't do the job, then that means we'll have to pick up here slack."

"That's not the point," Gray replied, frowning, "We're making sure those guys pay for what they did to Erza, you have no business in this."

"Ah, ah, ah…" The male replied once more waving a finger, "Like I said, I'm on a job, along with a few others. In addition, it's our job to make sure those guild members are down, like that one there. Don't get in our way, or I just might have to shoot you down."

"Who do you think you are…?" Gray growled, still panting, weak from his previous battle.

"Reve Volver, S Class mage of White Eclipse," Reve smirked, walking into the mansion, "I'm always in range before you know I exist. Just ask her." He chuckled before stepping inside, Gray following right behind him.

"Tenryū no Yokugeki!" Wendy expelled a sharp whirlwind of air from her arms inflicting damage on Veronica, also blowing her back a bit.

"Gah!" Veronica slid back across the snow on her feet, planting her hand on the ground to stop herself, "You just don't know when to quit…This is why we usually let the Master take care of things…" She then lunged forward towards the young bluenette once again, swinging a poisonous fist at her. Wendy's eyes widened as she jumped to the side, the poison grazing her arm, easily tearing through her sleeve; otherwise, Wendy was unharmed.

"I have to finish this now…" Wendy then opened her mouth, starting to inhale the air so she could regain her magic power.

"Oh no you don't!" Veronica pointed her hands forward, sending a thick poisonous ball towards Wendy.

"Wendy!" Carla swooped in, wings out, grabbing Wendy and lifting her off into the air.

"Carla!" Wendy felt a sudden rush of confidence now that her trusted Exceed was here. "I'm finishing this battle now! Drop me!" Carla nodded, dropping Wendy. "Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy swung her leg down at Veronica, a high-pressure wind sending the dark mage back into the building, covering her with rubble. Wendy landed on the ground, panting with a large grin, "I-I did it!"

Carla grinned at Wendy's victory, thinking to herself how much stronger Wendy has gotten since she actually started fighting. She was proud of the Dragon Slayer, and showed it with her grin, "Good job, Wendy!"

"I can't rest yet…" Wendy started walking into the mansion once again, "I have to see if the others need my help…!"


	9. Chapter 9

"RAH!" Natsu swung a fire infused fist at Bryon, but he dodged, landing on a floating platform, "I can't land a hit on this guy…! Happy, go around!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy started flying in a circle around the Water Mage.

"Your silly, misguided plans won't work on me, Salamander," Byron lifted his hands up, the foot deep water shooting up large, dense pillars of water in attempt to hit the Dragon Slayer and his Exceed.

"Watch out!" Natsu then leapt from Happy's grasp, rearing a fist back, "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" He threw his fist forward, using the momentum of the throw to slam his fist into Byron's face, causing him to stumble back a bit. Happy then swooped in and grabbed Natsu before he could land and suffer from motion sickness.

"Tch…" Byron shook his head, scowling, "It's time to drag you under…" A large blue magic circle appeared on the floor, "Secret Art: TIDAL WAVE!" The circle began to glow as the water started to move around restlessly, growing more violent in movement by the second; "IT'S TIME TO DROWN-" Everything Byron was doing stopped. The magic circle faded, the water calmed down almost instantly. Byron's eyes widened; he looked down, seeing a Shadow Katana had been plunged into his gut. He coughed up blood before falling over, motionless.

"N-Natsu!?" Happy looked down at his partner in confusion.

Natsu sniffed the air, his facial expression growing even more serious, "It's him…" A male with jet-black hair, and fire purple eyes walked into the room, seemingly unaffected by the slight motion of the moving platforms. The male was wearing a black, sleeveless shirt, blue jeans, and black boots.

"Salamander," The male nodded over to him before pulling out his Shadow Katana from Byron's body.

"N-Natsu…who is that?" Happy asked, somewhat worried due to the attitude Natsu had taken on.

"A Shadow Dragon Slayer…Takeru…" Natsu eyed Takeru, growling slightly, "He was mine."

"On a job, have to take him out, I don't care," Takeru said bluntly, turning around, "Only one member and the Master remains. I don't think you should place much faith in your…Titania, since she was defeated so easily."

"They ambushed Erza! She would've won otherwise!" Natsu blurted out.

"Can you say that for sure? You were having a hard time, weren't you?" Takeru said smugly.

Natsu said nothing; he started shaking, not from fear, but from anger. Takeru knew nothing, and he was just using Erza's defeat as a tool to get under his skin. All White Eclipse members had a talent for getting under his skin somehow. He would've charged Takeru at the moment, but he heard shouting from the main room. "Lucy!" Happy dropped him off and he started his way towards the main room.

Takeru's ears perked up at another voice, sighing somewhat, "Luke…" he slowly walked behind Natsu.

In the main room, Lucy was on Luke's back, pulling at his face, causing the mage to flail around as he tried to shake her off, "GET OFF OF ME!"

"NO! YOU'RE NOT INTERFERING," Lucy continued pulling at his face, a suitable distraction as Luke really wasn't making much progress.

"That guy must be strong if he can carry someone as heavy as Lucy on his back with no trouble…" Happy snickered.

"Shut up you stupid cat!" Lucy huffed, letting off a yelp as Luke tossed her off him.

"Geez…Oi, you get 'em, Tak?" Luke asked, dusting himself off.

"Easy," Takeru replied, smirking smugly.

"I see you two have taken care of some mages, eh?" Reve waltzed into the room as if he owned the mansion, Gray following behind him. "Oh, look, more Fairies." Reve snickered, "How much work did they do?"

"Pfft, not much," Luke replied.

"Natsu-san! Lucy-san! Gray-san!" Wendy ran into the room with Carla, grinning widely, "I beat one!"

"Nice job, Wendy!" Natsu grinned, giving Wendy a high five.

"You're telling me the little girl beat one and you three couldn't?" Reve chuckled mockingly.

"Only because you guys got in the way!" Natsu roared.

"Relax…" Luke sighed, "It's not our fault we did a better job than you…"

"Oh that is it…" Natsu reared his fist back, but before he could throw a punch a body crashed through the ceiling; it was Greg, the elemental mage Erza was fighting, and he was knocked out.

"Who…?" Takeru looked up, spotting Erza leaping down from the ceiling in her Black Wing Armor.

"Nice job, Erza!" Gray smirked, giving the Scarlet mage a thumbs up.

"What are they doing here?" Erza glared at the three White Eclipse members.

"Before you go flyin' off the handle, Erza," Luke started, "This is a job, is it not? We take out the guild members, and capture the master, no?"

"They're too stubborn to leave it to us," Lucy mumbled, crossing her arms. A rumbling sound came from the back of the mansion, shaking the three story building just a little.

"What was that…?" Carla asked cautiously.

"I bet that was from Lucy walking!" Happy suggested.

"You little!" Lucy wrapped her arms around Happy's tiny neck and started strangling the poor exceed.

"Anger issues much…" Luke muttered under his breath.

"YOU'RE NEXT." Lucy blared.

"Uh-huh…" Luke rolled his eyes and completely dismissed Lucy's threat.

"Come on you two, we're checking out that noise," Reve ordered. Luke and Takeru nodded and followed behind Reve.

"I can't stand those guys…" Gray watched as the three White Eclipse mages walked off…

"Who are those guys…?" Wendy asked, clueless.

"We'll tell you later," Lucy sighed, rubbing her temples from having to deal with Luke. "I swear I'll get him one day…"

"Come on, let's find the master," Erza nodded, changing back into her normal suit of armor. The group traveled to the back of the mansion, taking notice of the large hole in the wall.

"W-what the…?" Gray examined the hole. He touched the sides of the hole, a faint sizzling sound attracting his fingers, "It's fresh…" He reported.

"Look!" Wendy pointed to the snow, a series of footprints having left their mark.

"I bet they found the master already…" Natsu snarled, taking the lead as he and the others followed the footsteps. After fifteen minutes of walking, the tracks ran dry, no trace.

"No way, the tracks are gone!" Lucy groaned, "But where could they have gone!"

"It's likely whoever made these tracks knew we would be following them…" Erza closed her eyes, letting off a slightly frustrated sigh.

"I can't believe this…" Gray groaned, looking around the snowy mountainside.

"What do we do now…?" Wendy asked, shivering just slightly from the cold.

"We'll look for a little while longer before heading back," Erza suggested, "I'll go by myself if you guys don't want to."

"No way!" Natsu objected to this idea immediately, "Doesn't matter where we are, I'm not gonna let that guy get away!"

"Same here!" Lucy nodded, grinning.

Erza gave a small smile before leading the group on for a few more minutes. They eventually walked into a clearing surrounded by snow-covered trees. The only footsteps around were their own, and they hadn't found a single person during their travel. "Nothing…" Erza sighed.

"What's that over there…?" Happy pointed forward at a particularly shaped lump of snow.

"…That's odd…" Gray tilted his head, walking towards the clump of snow, started wiping the snow away, jumping up with a shout after a few seconds. "WHOA!"

"What's wrong Gray-san!?" Wendy ran up to the clump of snow, her eyes widening. A young girl with long black hair passed out in the snow, covered in all sorts of marks.

"I-It's a person!?" Lucy gasped.

"How long has that person been here?" Erza demanded, only to realize that no one knew the answer to her question.

Wendy wiped the snow off the girl, placing her hands over the girl as a sea green aura started to emit from her hands, "This girl's really hurt…I hope her injuries aren't too bad…"

Carla stared at the unconscious girl, her eyes widening as she had a sudden vision of the future. It was unclear, and fast. However, she saw it. She saw a faint image of this girl holding Wendy above a cliff, a building's alarm blaring loudly. It was too quick for Carla to realize who or what was happening, but she let off a loud gasp when the vision passed through.

"Something wrong, Carla?" Happy asked.

"E-Everything's fine…" Carla replied with a nod.

"Do you need a fish to feel better?" Happy asked, suddenly holding a fish in his hands.

"…Fish isn't the answer to everything, Happy…" Carla sighed.

Wendy finished healing the girl as much as she could, then shook her slightly, "Please…wake up…" She pleaded silently.

"Found a new friend?" Luke walked up to the group, looking over at the unconscious girl.

"What are you doing here…" Lucy scowled.

"Lost track of some tracks; the guild's not too far from here so I thought I'd investigate around here a little," Luke replied.

The girl woke up slowly, the first thing she saw was Wendy. However, she didn't take Wendy's kind smile as a friendly thing. Instead, she jumped up, panting. "S-Stay away from me!"

"W-What?" Wendy backed away a bit, frowning deeply, "B-But we were just trying to help…!"

"Help WHO!? Them!?" The girl started breathing heavily out of pure nervousness. Who were these people? What did they want with her? She didn't want to know the answer to these question. She allowed thick red flames to surround her body as a warning, "I-I'll hurt you all! You hear me!"

Natsu stepped forward, his own flames flaring to match the girl's, "You lay a hand on any of them and I'll make sure you pay for it…" He said in a deep, menacing tone.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy waved her hands frantically, "B-But careful! She's just a little girl! We don't know why she's out here…!"

"It doesn't matter if she's a child, if she lays a hand on any of our nakama, I won't hold back," Gray stepped forward next to Natsu.

"Attacking a child, are you?" Luke sighed, "You really have no bounds, do you? How about instead of scaring the already frightened girl, you act nice to her?"

"GO AWAY!" The girl reared her hand back, throwing a heavy red flame at Gray. The flame caught the Ice Make mage of guard and burned him as he tumbled back into the snow.

"Gray-san!" Wendy covered her mouth from shock; the flame leaving a heavy burn on Gray's chest.

"…Well there goes the peaceful approach…" Luke blinked quickly, the girl's sudden acting surprising him.


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy: Previously, on Fairy Tail. Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Erza, and I went on a mission to take out the dark mages who somehow defeated Erza! Erza of all people! While we were there, we ran into three guild members of a rival guild, White Eclipse….Those three members were Luke, Reve Volver, and Takeru; all annoying. They got in our way and used that as an excuse to insult us! Ugh, I can't stand them! Anyway, after all the mages were defeated, that only left the master. The master must have escaped using the back, so we followed a trail of footsteps left in the snow to follow him…but the tracks suddenly vanished, and we came across a young girl…who's absolutely crazy and attacking us for no reason!

.

.

.

"Gray-san!" Wendy rushed over to Gray, placing her hands over his burnt chest. Her hands emitted a sea green light as the burn slowly started to heal.

"RAAAH!" Natsu wasted no time rushing forward, cocking his arm back and then threw a heavy punch to the girl's cheek, causing her to stumble back. The girl had long black hair, which came down to her waist, sky blue eyes. Her clothing was tattered, a dirty t-shirt torn blue shorts. She was barefoot in the snow, but she didn't have to worry about frostbite due to the fact her own fire melted the snow.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy held herself back, knowing that the girl attacked first. "Be careful…"

"I warned you!" The girl recovered from the hit like it was nothing, then she rushed forward, ducking low; she then threw rapid, no magic punches to Natsu's gut, then finished the combo off with a knee to Natsu's chin. This girl was powerful, as the knee sent Natsu into the air a few fet, but he easily recovered, wiping his chin.

"She's strong…" Natsu thought to himself. But, he also noticed how she seemed worn out already. He smirked, his stomach growing in size as his cheeks puffed out, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He threw his head forward, opening his mouth as a funnel of fire traveled towards the girl.

"Fire…" The girl's eyes widened as the funnel of flames engulfed her.

"…That was it…?" Luke eyed the flame floating around the area carefully.

"Of course, that girl didn't know what she was getting into!" Lucy smirked over at Luke, hoping she would get under his skin with the fact he lost to Natsu when they fought.

"Gray, are you okay?" Erza asked, extending a hand to help him up.

"I'm fine…Thanks to Wendy," Gray took Erza's hand and stood up.

"I guess that's it-" Natsu, along with everyone else froze. A familiar inhalation sound filled the area. Natsu turned around slowly, his eyes widened. His flames were being CONSUMED! "N-NANI!?" The fire faded, and the girl was rubbing her stomach, sighing contently.

"SHE ATE HIS FLAMES?!" Lucy's eyes widened from pure shock.

Without another word, the girl gave a grin before lunging at Natsu, flames dancing around her body as she threw a three hit combo consisting of two punches and a roundhouse kick. Natsu blocked the two punches, but the kick was a lot faster than he expected so he skidded across the snow from the impact; Natsu wasn't going to let this keep him down, he jumped into the air, holding flames extending from his arms, "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" He dove forward, the fire trailing behind his arms in an X formation. The girl let out a yelp as the attack made contact with her, but she landed on the snow with her bare feet.

"What's up with this girl…?" Luke spoke in a sort of surprised voice; so far, she was keeping up with Natsu like it was nothing.

"Kyah!" The fire preformed a series of front flips before leaping into the air, flames surrounding her feet; she spun around, the flames on her feet forming into a drill as she slammed into Natsu's chest, causing him to tumble back across the snow before handspring back up almost immediately, spinning 270 degrees as flames surrounded his foot.

"Talons of the Fire Dragon!" He aimed his leg at the girl's head; she blocked the hit, but she let out a "Tch," as she felt the pain from the attack, and the ground crack from underneath her feet. Red flames formed around her free hand as she swiftly brought send fist upward, connecting with Natsu's chin as he flew into the air once more.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, biting his fingernails.

"Something's not right about this girl…" Carla muttered, going over the faint images of her vision.

Red magic circles appeared behind Natsu's feet, his body suddenly covered in flames as he lunged forward towards the black haired girl, "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He slammed right into the girl, the heavy impact causing her to roll across the snow before sliding to a halt, shaking the impact off. She then rushed forward as Natsu was landing, stopping just before she reached him, then extended her left arm, throwing a series of fast and brutal punches to Natsu's face and torso, the speed and power of the punches caught Natsu off guard as he groaned, backing up to get some space. The girl wasn't letting up however. She grabbed Natsu by his scarf and pulled him over, placing a hand on his stomach.

"Force Palm!" A large flame them blasted Natsu away, creating a small crater where he landed.

As Natsu laid there, he thought, "What's up with these flames…they…they actually hurt…" Just then, he got an idea. He stood up, beckoning the girl to come at him, "Come on, your flames are nothing compared to Igneel's! Gimme all you got, or don't bother continuing this fight!"

"What's he doing…?" Gray raised an eyebrow, then it clicked into his head, "Ah!"

"He's going to eat her flames," Erza smirked. "If she can eat his, then no doubt he can eat hers."

The girl didn't say a word, she merely opened her palm, a sphere of red fire slowly forming. When the ball was about the size of a basketball, she hurled the flame at Natsu, who opened his mouth with joy….but there was a problem. The flame made contact with Natsu…"W-WHAT!?" Natsu graoned from the pain he was experiencing, only one question ringing through everyone's mind, "I CAN'T EAT THESE!?"

"Natsu-san, look out!" Wendy pointed to the sky. The girl had leapt high into the air, tucking in her body.

"AND STAY AWAY!" The girl landed a heavy axe kick to Natsu's head, the impact shaking the ground and caused a minor smoke cloud to form. The girl then turned her attention to the others, glaring hatefully at them.

"N-NATSU!" Lucy covered her mouth, whimpering. When the smoke cleared, Natsu was lying in a crater face down, motionless.

"Holy…." Luke took a step back.

"Natsu…" Happy's eyes started to water.

A few seconds passed before Natsu started moving. He placed his hands on the ground, standing up slowly, "That's it…you think you can hurt my nakama and get away with it…?" Flames AND lightning surrounded Natsu's body as he entered Lightning Flame Mode.

"Natsu-san!" Wendy grinned, knowing that Natsu was serious.

"W-What the…?!" The girl's eyes widened considerably, "W-what is that!?"

Natsu didn't' say a word, he only lunged forward, a lightning and fire infused fist cocked back. With a shout, he then threw the fist forward, striking the girl in the stomach, causing her to bend over. Natsu then cocked his other fist back, throwing it at the girl's face. But, the by this point the girl had already recovered after the first hit, her red flames darkening as she threw her own fist at Natsu's the magical pressure causing a shock wave to boom out into the area, causing the trees to shaking violently.

Wendy shook her left arm slightly, keeping her eyes on the fight. Carla noticed this and turned her head over to Wendy, "Wendy, is everything okay…?"

"Mhm, my arm just started feeling a little numb…probably started to fall asleep, that's all," Wendy nodded.

Natsu and the girl were locked in a stalemate. Every time a punch was thrown, it was countered by the other's fist. The girl ended the statement by ducking one of Natsu's punches, then swung a fierce head butt to Natsu's nose, causing him to stumble back. Natsu growled, leaping into the air with fire in one hand and electricity in the other, "Dazzling Blaze of the Lighting Flame Dragon!" He put his fist together, the two elements merging into one ball of brilliant flames and electricity. He then threw the sphere over at the girl. The girl jumped back, the explosion of the sphere catching her as she skidded back across the bare ground, panting slightly, while Natsu was panting heavier than she was.

"She's…she's keeping up with Natsu in Lighting Flame…?" Lucy asked in worry and amazement.

"No…" Luke replied. His eyes on the fight intently, "She's overpowering him in Lightning Flame…" As he spoke, the girl threw another series of darkened red fire at Natsu's face and chest area, each punch causing Natsu to shout in pain as he stumbled back.

"Come on, Flame Brain!" Gray shouted with his palm in his fist if he felt the need to interfere.

Natsu knew it was all or nothing at this point. He reared his head back, gathering what was left of his magical energy as fire and lighting started to swirl around his mouth. Once he felt what he had was good enough, he threw his head forward, unleashing a large funnel of fire and electricity, "ROAR OF THE LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON!"

As Natsu was gathering his magic energy, the girl was doing the same. Red flames surrounding her mouth until she threw her head forward, unleashing a funnel of red fire," Roar of the Omega Flame Dragon!"

"Did she say dragon!?" Wendy, along with Lucy, gasped from surprise. The two roars collided with each other head on; the sheer power of the roars causing a large explosion. The force was so strong the trees fell over with little trouble, and a large smoke cloud filled the formerly snowy clearing. Silence filled the area as the smoke cleared. To everyone's surprise, Natsu was down to a knee as the girl was still standing. The tension then filled the area as the girl took one step forward…before passing out face down on the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy rushed over to Natsu, supporting him as he stood up, "A-Are you okay?!"

"I-I'm fine…" Natsu flashed a smile, then turned his attention over to the girl, "There's something off about this girl…"

"Are you just going to leave her there?" Luke asked, walking over to them.

"Of course not!" Wendy objected the idea, walking over to the girl and hoisting her over the shoulder, "We're going to take her back to Fairy Tail and see if we can help her!"

"We're doing what now?" Gray looked down at Wendy with a puzzled expression.

"She needs help…didn't you see the fear and nervousness on her face? She wouldn't have attacked unless she felt threatened…" Wendy stated, looking at the girl with a look of sympathy, "Please, Erza-san…?"

Erza sighed, "Alright, we'll take her back to Fairy Tail and see what happens then…"

"Yes, thank you!" Wendy jumped for joy, while Carla just eyed the unconscious girl.

"Hm, alright then…See you later, Fairies," Luke smirked, giving Lucy a taunting pat on the head before walking up the mountain. Lucy WAS going to tackle the mage, but she was held back by Gray and Happy.

"Ooooh…I'll get him one day I swear…" Lucy grumbled.


	11. Chapter 11: Cynthia

Luke walked up a mountain trail, eventually coming across a large building painted with the white snow. He pushed the doors open and stepped inside, "I'm baaaaack!" He yelled, alerting every one of his presence. The main area of the building he walked into, White Eclipse, was large. The floor was finely shined wood, several couches in the area, stairs that led upstairs to the rooms to where all the guild members lived. The main area was semi crowded. Reve and Takeru turned to face him.

"Did you find anything, Luke?" Reve asked, polishing one of his pistols.

"Nope," Luke shook his head. "Nothing. The master made a clean getaway…"

"Tch, if those Fairies weren't in our way with their personal vendetta's we would've captured him by now…" Takeru sighed.

"Well, we'll get him eventually, Luke stated. "Where is everyone?" he asked, looking around.

"Taya and Nami are the kitchen, cooking dinner," Reve reported, "Selene's STILL asleep, Michio is…I don't know where he went, actually. Cygnus and Jaxon went on a mission, and so did Kuro and Waiston. Zain's off in the infirmary, Zalen's in his room, doing whatever. Aira fell asleep somewhere, Arc is probably training, and Sidney is just being Sidney."

"So pretty much like normal?" Luke nodded, taking a seat on the couch.

"Pretty much," Reve shrugged.

A few minutes passed before two girls walked out of the kitchen. One girl was tall, black hair reaching down to her lower back, a gray shirt and black pants were her attire. The other girl was just a little shorter than the other girl, her hand tied into a bun with a few locks hanging freely, also wearing a grey shirt, but she was wearing blue pants.

"Dinner's ready," the taller one said.

"Thanks, Taya," Luke grinned, hopping off the couch and onto the table as the plates were set down, nodding to the taller girl.

"Dinner's ready!" The shorter girl, Nami, said in a cheery voice. Within seconds, a girl with dark blue hair flew out of her room in nothing but a shirt and shorts, and claimed a spot on the table. This girl had violet eyes, along with a scar that trailed just slightly below her left eye.

"…Is it bad I thought you almost felt down the stairs, Selene?" Luke raised an eyebrow to Selene. However, she paid him no mind as the food was set down and she started eating it. "Right…anyway, something interesting happened today…"

.

.

.Wendy was inside Fairy Tail's infirmary, watching over the black haired girl who attacked Gray and Natsu. Even though the girl attacked first, Wendy could sense that deep down she was a good person…she had to be. It was a day or so after the girl attacked, and Wendy was wearing a new outfit, of course. She wore a flowing dress with a triangular patter near the top and a crossing pattern around the rest of the dress, along with a thick band around each other arms and ankle tied sandals. The girl wrapped in bandages; despite her performance against Natsu, her arm, head, and chest took injury. "It's been a day…" Wendy healed her wounds, but she couldn't help but feel some kind of worry.

"Ngh…" The girl's eyes slowly fluttered open as she awoke, nearly jumping at the sight of Wendy, "W-Wah!"

"I-It's okay!" Wendy placed her hands out, giving a reassuring smile. "You're safe now…!"

"W-Who are you…? W-Where am I…?" The girl cowered away from Wendy slightly, bringing the blanket up in front of her face.

"My name is Wendy Marvell! And you're at Fairy Tail!" Wendy nodded.

"F-Fairy…Tail…?" The girl looked at Wendy with a puzzled expression, "What's that? Are we inside a Fairy's tail!?" She gasped, looking around.

Wendy blinked a few times, laughing slightly at the girl's reaction, "N-No! you're inside a guild! The strongest guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail!" Wendy showed her blue guild mark to the girl, smiling prideful.

The girl stared at Wendy for a few minutes before setting the covers down, something about Wendy made this girl feel safe, "Wendy…right?"

"Mhm," Wendy nodded, "What's your name?"

"Cynthia…" she nodded slowly.

"Nice to meet you, Cynthia!" Wendy grinned.

"S-So you said I'm in a guild…what's that…?" Cynthia was clearly nervous, so she averted Wendy's gaze and looked down at the floor.

"It's a place where a bunch of mages are together and do jobs and all kinda stuff!" Wendy nodded, her grin widening.

"O-Oh…sounds fun…" Cynthia mumbled. A few minutes of awkward silence later, Erza and Lucy walked inside the infirmary.

"Oh, she's awake," Erza smiled slightly.

"How is she?" Lucy asked, looking over at Cynthia.

"F-fine…" Cynthia brought up the covers once again, feeling nervous and out of place. She was afraid that Lucy and Erza would attack her for attacking Natsu and Gray as she did, "Please don't hurt me…"

"They won't hurt you, Cynthia-san," Wendy nodded and gave a reassuring smile.

"T-They won't?" Cynthia shyly looked at Wendy, bringing the covers down slowly.

"Hai, I promise," Wendy nodded once again.

"O-Okay…" Cynthia nodded slowly, looking over at Lucy and Erza, "M-My name is Cynthia…"

"Nice to meet you, Cynthia!" Lucy grinned, pointing to herself, "My name is Lucy Heartfilia!"

"And I am Erza Scarlet, it's a pleasure to meet you," Erza nodded, giving a tiny smile, she then glanced over at Wendy, who rolling her shoulder. "Is everything okay Wendy?" She asked while raising a brow.

"Mhm…My arm is just numb…probably from laying down the way I was," Wendy shrugged slightly as she attempt to regain the feeling in her arm.

Lucy leaned over and whispered in Erza's ear, "Should we ask her why she was up there…?"

Erza shook her head slowly, "No…not yet…let's wait until she feels comfortable around us…we don't want to give her the wrong impression…"

"Are there more people here…?" Cynthia asked worriedly.

"Mhm!" Wendy nodded, "There's a bunch of people here. Some are away on jobs. Would you like to meet them…?"

"O-Only if you come with me…" Cynthia muttered, fidgeting around awkwardly.

"Of course! C'mon, I'll introduce you to Fairy Tail!"


	12. Chapter 12: Meet Fairy Tail!

Wendy carefully led Cynthia to the main hall of the usually lively Fairy Tail guild. As she suspected, a few of the people she wanted to introduce Cynthia to happen to be away on jobs. The only people inside the guild were the sixth Master and Wizard Saint, Markarov Dreyar, Gajeel, Patherlily, Juvia, Natsu, Gray, Levy, Mirajane, Lucy, Carla, Happy, Cana, and Erza. "Is this everyone…?" Cynthia asked, expecting more people to be around.

"No, this is only some of them!" Wendy nodded, leading Cynthia over to a table. Cynthia took a seat, and Wendy sat down next to her.

"Uh…what are they doing…?" Cynthia pointed over to Natsu and Gray, who were forehead to forehead once again, arguing about SOMETHING.

"They're…just…arguing…again…" Wendy sighed.

"Hello~." Mirajane walked over to the two girls, placing a plate of pancakes in front of Cynthia. "I'm glad to see you're awake~!" Mirajane smiled cheerfully at Cynthia.

"T-Thank you…" Cynthia smiled slightly, still feeling out of place in such a lively, free building.

"My name is Mirajane Strauss! What's yours?" Mira sat across from Cynthia, the smile never leaving her face.

"My name is Cynthia…" Cynthia averted her gaze slightly after introducing herself.

"She's a bit shy, Mira-san," Wendy whispered.

Mirajane nodded, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask me," Mirajane nodded at Cynthia before standing up and heading back behind the bar.

"Cynthia-san, if you don't mind me asking…how old are you?" Wendy asked.

"Thirteen…" Cynthia replied, then proceeded to eating her pancakes.

"Wendy," Carla walked over to the dragon slayer, hopping up on the table, "Is she alright?" Carla gestured over to Cynthia, who blocked the world out as she ate the pancakes.

"Hai," Wendy gave a small nod, "She's a little nervous, but that's not surprising." She then winced in a sort of pain, clutching her chest for a brief second as she closed one eye. "O-Ow…"

"Are you okay?!" Carla's expression quickly changed into a worried once as she looked over Wendy.

"I-I'm fine…just a sudden shock…that's all…" Wendy groaned slightly as she opened her eye.

"Maybe you should lie down," Carla suggested.

"N-No, I'm fine, honest. Plus I have to introduce Cynthia to everyone!" Wendy replied, smiling cheerfully as if the random pain had never even happened. "Everyone, can I have your attention!" Wendy said quietly at first, causing her voice to become drowned out by all the yelling. "U-Uh…Excuse me!" Still nothing, the usual banter of the guild drowning out her voice. Wendy pouted and slowly slinked down into her chair.

"EVERYONE QUIET DOWN," Erza demanded, her demand causing the guild to quiet down in a heartbeat as everyone sat and stared at her attentively. Erza merely cleared her throat, and pointed to Wendy, "They're all yours, Wendy."

"Arigato, Erza-san!" Wendy grinned, standing on top of a table so everyone inside could see her. "I would like to introduce someone to you!" Cynthia's face turned crimson red as she realized that everyone inside was going to be introduced to her; she could barely handle Wendy, how was she going to handle all these strangers?! "Her name is Cynthia, so would you all please give her a nice Fairy Tail welcome!"

"Aheh…" Cynthia slowly slid down the table, but she stopped when Gajeel picked her up by the back of her shirt, examining her. "P-PUT ME DOWN!" She flailed around, her heartbeat speeding up from pure fear.

"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt ya, shorty," Gajeel sighed, plopping the young girl back into her seat.

"You don't know how to treat a girl, you jerk," Levy huffed, crossing her arms.

"Gihehe, really now, shrimp?" Gajeel picked levy up by the back of her shirt and watched as she flailed around.

"Not funny, put me down!" Levy cried.

"U-Uhm…" Cynthia scratched her head, watching Gajeel in Levy before giggling a little, and mumbling to herself, "That's cute…" Cynthia then turned, only to be face to face with Natsu, causing the girl to yelp in surprise and nearly fall back, "H-HEY…!?"

"Hmmm…" Natsu eyed Cynthia cautiously, replaying their battle the day before in his head.

"N-Natsu-san…what are you…?" Wendy just watched as Natsu observed Cynthia, unsure on what she should do.

"You…You're a dra-" Before Natsu could finish his sentence, Lucy had smacked her hand over his mouth and pulled him away, despite his flailing, "MMMMPF!"

"Oi, don't mind him…" A shirtless and pant less Gray sighed.

"….W-…Where are your clothes…?!" Cynthia asked, covering her eyes as she jumped up.

"What do you mean where are my…" Gray looked down, noticing that he was in his black boxers and yelped out, running off in embarrassment, "GAH!"

Juvia, who was hiding behind a support beam, quickly spotted the half naked Gray running off and quickly chased after him, hearts in her eyes, "GRAYYYY-SAMAAAAA~~~~~~~~~!"

Cynthia sighed, causing Wendy to panic slightly, "D-Don't worry! Things are normally like this! I-I mean! Everyone is so friendly; you should talk to them more…!" Wendy winced slightly, unsure from what, but she felt a pain growing in her body; however she choose to ignore is as it was probably nothing.

Markarov was drinking a mug of beer while eying Cynthia, Natsu's sudden interest in her peaking his own, "Hm…"

"Something wrong, Master?" Cana asked, sitting cross legged on the ground chugging down a barrel of beer like it was nothing.

"Nothing's wrong, something about that girl is interesting to me though…" Markarov shrugged slightly, taking a sip from his mug, looking over at Erza as she approached.

"Master, there's something I have to tell you," Erza said.

"What is it, Erza?" Markarov set his beer down, looking up at Titania.

"That girl…it appears that she's a Dragon Slayer of some kind…" Erza stated, glancing over at Wendy and Cynthia.

"A Dragon Slayer?" Cana stood up, only because she finished the barrel and was ready for a new one.

Erza nodded, "She fought with Natsu, and at the end of the battle she said, "Roar of the Omega Flame Dragon!"" Erza quoted, remembering the battle between Cynthia and Natsu.

"Omega Flame?" Markarov scratched his head, but he then shrugged, "Something does seem odd about that girl, I've never heard of an Omega Flame Dragon before…but I assume it's just like all the other fire dragons?"

Erza shook her head, "You would think so…but her flames are red, and they grow darker as she uses more of her magical power. Not to mention, Natsu was unable to eat her flames, but she could eat his no problem."

"Hmmm…I see…We'll keep an eye on that girl then," Markarov nodded, "I can tell by her current actions she's not used to big crowds such as this, I just hope this guild's attitude doesn't overwhelm her…"

Lucy took a seat across from Cynthia, raising an eyebrow as she noticed the black haired girl looking around. "Looking for someone…?" Lucy asked.

"Mhm…that brown haired guy…he was with you, wasn't he? I can't really remember…it's a haze…" Cynthia held her head groaning softly while Lucy scowled.

"Yeah, who was that guy, Lucy-san?" Wendy asked, now turning her head towards Lucy.

Lucy sighed, wanting to avoid this topic, but she knew she had to warn Wendy of him, and them. "He's not from Fairy Tail, Cynthia," Lucy started. "His name is Luke Cloud, and he's a mage from the guild called White Eclipse…"

"White Eclipse…?" Wendy tilted her head slightly at the name, "I've never heard of them…"

"The people in White Eclipse are buncha assholes…" Natsu sneered, the thought of every single one of those members annoying him.

"W-Why?" Wendy was afraid to ask, but she already did.

"They think they're better than us just because they have a more wins over us!" Natsu clenched his fist, remembering his own defeat to one of their members.

"How did you guys even meet…?" Cynthia asked, Natsu's anger scaring her slightly, so she inched closer towards Wendy.

"I ran into one of their members, that Luke guy…" Natsu smirked, remembering his victory over Luke.

"What's up with this Luke? He seems popular…" Cynthia asked yet again, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"He's a copy mage…" Lucy replied. "He copies the magic of those he fights and uses it against them…"

"He sounds strong…" Wendy frowned slightly.

"He is…he fought me once…after that we fought again…He even beat Gray and Laxus…." Lucy continued.

"HE BEAT LAXUS-SAN!?" Wendy gasped, her eyes widening.

"Sort of," Lucy replied, "Anyway…we became friends after we fought…and beat me the second tiem…" Lucy sighed, placing her hands in her lap as she looked down at the floor.

"What happened after that…? You two didn't seem to get along at all…" Wendy looked up at Lucy.

"I don't want to talk about it," Lucy replied.

"Back to White Eclipse as a whole…?" Cynthia asked, looking over at Natsu since Lucy didn't seem to be in the mood to talk anymore.

"All of their members think they're better than us just because they've beaten us a lot, I can't stand it. I can't stand Luke for hurting Lucy like that, and I can't stand that Takeru guy!" Natsu pounded the table with his fist, using it as an outlet for his anger, causing Cynthia to jump slightly.

.

.

"ACHOO!" Luke covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he sneezed.

"AGAIN?" Selene asked, leaning back against the couch.

"I guess I'm being talked about…a lot…again…" Luke shrugged, going back to relaxing.


	13. Chapter 13: Magnolia Tour

"I have more stuff to show you!" Wendy nodded, standing up from her seat.

"What else is there…?" Cynthia asked, standing up slowly.

Wendy motioned for the black haired girl to follow her before walking over the request board, "This is where we take jobs!"

"Jobs…?" Cynthia tilted her head slowly.

"Hai! There are many jobs on here, lately. And upstairs there are jobs for S Class Mages."

"S…Class…? I'm sorry Wendy, but…you're losing me…." Cynthia sighed, feeling bad she couldn't grasp something Wendy seemed excited about.

"Oh, I'm sorry…! S Class mages are really strong mages in our guild. We have Erza-san, Mira-san, Laxus-san, and ace, Gildarts-san!"

"Ace…?" Cynthia tilted her head slowly, "What's an Ace?"

"The strongest person in the guild, beside the Master, and our master is one of the ten Wizard Saints…!" Wendy nodded, smiling that she was able to explain all this so easily to Cynthia.

"Wizard Saints…aren't those people extremely powerful or something…?" Cynthia looked up at Wendy, who nodded cheerfully. "Whoa…this guild really does seem strong…! But…White Eclipse seems stronger if they've beaten you guys so much…right?"

"U-Uh…." Wendy shuffled around awkwardly on her feet before changing topics. "H-How about I show you around Magnolia…!"

"Magnolia…?" Cynthia tilted her head slightly.

"Magnolia, the town where Fairy Tail is!" Wendy nodded, taking hold of Cynthia's hand, "Come on, I'll show you if you want!"

Cynthia paused for a moment; she was unsure how anyone could be so enthusiastic about a simple tour. However, to be honest, she kinda liked the idea of being shown around town. She didn't exactly trust Wendy, but she was the only person she felt even the slightest bit comfortable around. "O…Okay!" She nodded, giving a small smile.

"Great!" Wendy grinned. "Oh, wait!" She ran into the infirmary, grabbing and putting on a long sleeved black jacket, then she came back and pulled Cynthia out the front doors and to Magnolia Town.

"She and Wendy are getting along quickly…" Lucy commented, smiling slightly.

"Until we learn more about that girl we have to make sure Wendy doesn't get too close to her," Erza said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you saying we should keep an eye on them?" Lucy looked over at Erza, raising an eyebrow.

"We don't know anything about this girl…All we know is that her name is Cynthia, and she's a Dragon Slayer," Erza stated with a serious expression. "I don't want Wendy hurt because of this girl's background…"

"That's my line," Carla mumbled, sprouting her wings. "I'll go; it IS my responsibility to make sure Wendy is safe, after all."

"I'll go with you!" Happy grinned, hearts appearing in his eyes at the thought of being along with Carla.

"I'll join you two as well," Patherlily sudden, said, shattering Happy's daydreaming like glass. "If there's any trouble, I'll be able to help fight it off."

"Yaaaaay!" Happy had a fake enthusiasm in his voice. Though it was true Lily could do the fighting, he would just rather just be alone with Carla.

"Be safe, Exceed Squad!" Lucy grinned.

"But of course," Carla nodded firmly before flying out of the guild with Happy and Lily.

.

.

Wendy led Cynthia to the heart of Magnolia town, both her and the town brimming with excitement. Cynthia looked around, taking in the surroundings of the busy town as best as she could without being overwhelmed. "W-Whoa…this place is huge…!" Cynthia exclaimed, making sure to stick close to Wendy so she would not get lost.

"Isn't it?" Wendy nodded, leading the other girl through the town with a bright smile on her face. "This place is so pretty, I'm glad I live right near here! I have so much to show you, too!"

"So much…? I dunno if I will be able to take it all in…! Just walking around is so much already…" Cynthia commented.

"Then we'll do as much as you can in one day!" Wendy nodded firmly, intent on showing Cynthia around town. Wendy then showed Cynthia nearly all around town, the shops, the movies, the lake, and lastly, the giant tree in the middle of the town. The tree's size caused Cynthia's sky blue eyes to widen and sparkle slightly.

"W-Whoa…that's a beautiful tree…!" Cynthia said in amazement.

"Mhm! It is! And over here-" Wendy stopped, accidently bumping into a tall male with silver hair, "O-Oh! I'm sorry!"

The male turned, eating a meatball sub and merely shrugged it off, "Whatever just watch where you're going next time." The male then turned and left, mumbling to himself, "I should get getting back to the guild anyway…"

"Oh…" Wendy sighed, bringing her hands to her cheeks, realizing how hot they were getting. "H-Huh…?"

"What's wrong, Wendy?" Cynthia looked over at Wendy with a semi-concerned look.

"My cheeks are really hot…now that I think about it; I can't feel my arms either…" Wendy started to become worried. "Am I sick…?" Wendy then yelped, an indescribable pain shooting through her body, numbing it as she fell to the ground, writhing in pain for a few seconds before passing out.

Cynthia's eyes widened in shock as Wendy fell, unsure on what to do in this situation. "W-Wendy…!"


	14. Chapter 14: Sick Little Wendy

"WENDY!" Carla flew in from above, her eyes as big as dinner plates as she laid them on Wendy.

"W-What are you doing here?!" Cynthia asked; she then shook her head, picking up the motionless Wendy. "W-We have to get her back to Fairy Tail! Something's wrong!"

"W-What happened!?" Happy asked, covering his mouth with his hands.

"I-I I don't know!" Cynthia cried. "She just...she just collapsed! I'm worried!"

"Enough talk," Lily said rather calmly, though on the inside he was quite worried. "We'll get her back to Fairy Tail and see what's wrong with her. "Come on." Lily went behind Cynthia, picking her up into the air, while Carla lifted the unconscious Wendy from Cynthia's hands. "Max speed!" The three Exceeds nodded before bursting in the air back to Fairy Tail. Back at the guild, it filled up with a few more people, such as Romeo and his father, Macao Conbolt, and finally, the family of Bisca, Alzack, and Asuka Connel. Cynthia kicked the doors open, holding Wendy in her arms.

"H-HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Cynthia cried, catching everyone's attention.

"What's wrong?!" Lucy rushed over to Cynthia, gasping at Wendy. "W-What happened?!"

"She just collapsed!" Cynthia replied, holding the unconscious Dragon Slayer in her arms bridal style.

"Get her to the infirmary right away!" Macao shouted. Cynthia nodded, rushing over to the infirmary and placed Wendy on her back on the bed, breathing a little heavy. Everyone inside rushed into the infirmary after Cynthia placed the young girl down, crowding around Wendy's bed as the examined her.

"She just collapsed, you say?" Erza raised an eyebrow at the black-haired Cynthia.

"Yes, she did!" Cynthia nodded, realizing that she wasn't exactly trusted in this place.

"H-How do we find out what's wrong?!" Roemo asked, obviously panicking for Wendy's well being.

"Take of her jacket first," Gray replied, shirtless as usual, with Juvia gazing at his bare back with hearts in her eyes.

"You would be the one to say that," Lucy muttered. She then leaned forward, unzipping Wendy's jacket and threw it off. When she looked over at Wendy, she, and everyone else gasped from shock. Wendy's entire left arm and a part of her upper body was covered in a purple poison.

"W-WHAT THE!?" Natsu was taken aback, nearly falling back.

"What is that!?" Cynthia gasped, covering her mouth with both of her hands as her eyes widened.

"Poison..." Even Erza was unable to keep a calm composure as she glanced at the poison spreading through the young girl's body, remembering when she herself was poisoned.

"C-Can't you get rid of it?!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"I think I can try something!" Levy stepped forward with a determined look on her face.

"What are you going to try?" Bisca asked, looking over at the short Solid Script mage.

"This!" Levy wrote the world HEAL in giant letters, "Solid Script: Heal!" The words then emitted a soft sea green light that shone over the poisoned Wendy. A few minutes passed, and absolutely nothing changed. Levy gasped loudly from surprise. "I-It didn't work!?"

"How did this even happen!?" Carla couldn't stand to see Wendy in such a condition. As she looked away, she remembered something. "No..."

"What's wrong, Carla?" Natsu asked, keeping his gaze on Wendy.

Carla didn't answer just yet. Instead, she examined Wendy's poisoned arm, noticing the tiniest of graze marks on her arm, causing her to gasp softy. "I-I was hoping it wasn't that...!"

"Carla, what's wrong!?" Natsu asked, even louder than the last time.

"Natsu, calm down," Markarov said calmly. As the Master, he had to be the calm one. He knew if he didn't the guild would turn upside down, and now wasn't the time for such a thing.

"I remember, when we went on that job the other day to take down those mages..." Carla started. "One of those mages used poison along with telekinesis...Wendy must've been barely grazed on her arm by the poison, and it started to spread through her body..." Carla's eyes widened after she spoke, it all making sense now. She remembered after Wendy healed Cynthia how Wendy said her arm was "falling asleep."

"So when she said her arm fell asleep earlier..." Lucy thought back to earlier in the day where she and Erza stepped into the infirmary. "She was poisoned!?"

"How do we fix this?!" Happy shouted, nervously devouring a fish.

"Wendy can't heal herself..." Alzack started, "And if Levy can't heal her...we're really low on options..."

"Is Wendy gunna be okay, Papa?" The young Asuka Connel asked, tugging up on her father's pant leg and looking up at him sadly.

"O-Of course she will!" Alzack nodded, picking up his daughter into his arms, "There's something we can do, I know it."

"F-Fairy Tail...please...I beg of you, help Wendy!" Cynthia cried, nodding.

"We were going to help her even if you didn't ask," Gajeel stated bluntly. "She's part of the guild, after all. We ain't just leavin' her like this. Would leave a bad taste in my mouth if we did."

"I-I..." Cynthia stopped, realizing that what the Iron Dragon Slayer said was true.

"What are we going to do though?" Gray asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't know..." Carla sighed, averting her gaze from Wendy as the poison slowly crept farther along her body. "B-But we better think of something FAST!"

Lucy sighed, thinking back to anything that might be able to help. She then remembered something from hanging around a certain brown-haired mage.

[FLASHBACK]

Luke visited Lucy's house every so often while the two were friends. On day, the mage decided to bring Lucy a present. "Oi, that reminds me, I got'cha something, Lucy," Luke said, holding a hand behind his back as he sat on Lucy's couch.

"Hm?" Lucy say on a chair across from Luke, looking over at him. "What is it?" She asked, surprised that he would even think to get her something.

Luke pulled his arm from out behind him, revealing a flower with golden petals, "Surprise!" He said, grinning. Lucy's cheeks turned a fade shade of pink as she took the flower from Luke's hands.

"I-It's beautiful..." Lucy said quietly.

Luke's grin widened, knowing that the Celestial Mage liked the flower, "Glad you like it, it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to get..."

"Where did you find it...?" Lucy asked, unable to keep her eyes off the golden flower's sparkles.

"I know a place that has all kinds of flowers," Luke responded, "There are all kinds of flowers. Flowers that heal burns, heal all kinds of poison, it's just amazing what you find when you just walk around."

[End Flashback]

"I know where we have to go..." Lucy said suddenly.

"Huh?" Natsu looked over at Lucy, noticing the odd tone in her voice. "Where? And what's wrong?"

"If you're going somewhere, take me with you!" Cynthia blurted out.

"Huh?!" The guild members looked at Cynthia with a confused looked.

"Why do you want to go?" Erza asked, still not trusting the girl.

"Wendy's the first person who's ever been so nice to me...I want to help her...please let me go..." Cynthia begged. Erza stayed silent, unsure on what to say.

"Let her go," Markarov insisted. "I can tell she wants to help Wendy, so we shouldn't get in her way. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza. Go to wherever you need to. We'll stay here and do our best to keep the poison from spreading."

"Aye, sir!" Happy nodded, flying over to Natsu.

"So, Lucy," Gray started. "Where are we going...?"

Lucy sighed, leading the way out of the guild, "To get some help..."

.

.

The group of six slowly made their way up the snowy mountain trail. Natsu grit his teeth as he knew exactly where they were going. He didn't like it, but if it was to help Wendy, he would have to put his grudge aside. A few moments later, the group made it to the building known as White Eclipse. Lucy took a step forward and subconsciously knocked on the door lightly at first. "You'll have to knock harder..." Cynthia muttered.

"I know, I know..." Lucy sighed, knocking loudly on the front door, taking a step back. The door opened slowly, a brown haired made with red glasses peeking his head out.

"Yes...?" He looked over at who was at the door and tilted his head slightly, "What do you want?"

"...I'm here to see..." Lucy gulped, hating the words she was about to say, "I-...we're here to see Luke."

"Luke...?" The brown haired male snickered lightly. "Would you like to come in, or wait outside? I'm okay with either."

"Inside please..." Cynthia said. The male nodded, opening the door as the five stepped inside. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy's guards went up as they went inside.

"Luke, you have visitors!" The male shouted.

"I have what Zalen!?" Luke shouted from atop the stairs, his voice a bit muffled because he was inside a room.

"You have guest!" Zalen shouted even louder.

"G-Gah! Gimme a few minutes!" Luke shouted. "You won't win this time...!"

"Did we come at a bad time...?" Cynthia asked.

"Oh no, he's just...busy...with something..." Zalen snicked lightly. Zalen's shouting attracted the attention of a few other members inside the rivaling guild. A silver haired Male walked in from the kitchen, eating a meatball sub. The male was wearing a long sleeved gray shirt and pants, walking around barefoot because he was a member and was home, technically.

"Oi, is that Fairy Tail?!" The male said, taking a bite from his meatball sub.

"Yes it is, Cygnus," Zalen replied, nodding.

"What are they doing here?" Cygnus asked, downing the rest of the meatball sub. "Did Natsu, Gray, and Lucy come here to get bodied again?"

Natsu clenched his fist at Cygnus's comment. Cygnus was the one who defeated the mighty Salamander in battle, and it didn't sit well with Natsu at all. He REALLY wanted to punch Cygnus in the face, but he couldn't. He needed to help Wendy, and it seemed that Lucy was putting a lot of faith in Luke being the one to help them. "N-No..."

"How's that scar on your stomach, Gray?" Cygnus asked with a cocky smirk. Gray nearly jumped at Cygnus, but he was held back by Happy.

"GRAY, NO!" Happy shouted, using his strength to hold the Ice Make mage back.

"We would appreciate it if you didn't mock us over your victories tonight," Erza said with a scowl.

"oooh, or what? Is Titania gonna get mad?" Cygnus said in a mocking tone.

"I just might..." Erza said in a low tone.

"Oh, cut it out, Cyg," Zalen said, laughing a bit. "They obviously want something, so what kind of host would we be if we turned them away?

"If they wanna get bodied I'm sure Reve, Luke and I could handle it," Cygnus replied, the cocky smirk not having left his face.

"I'm getting really tired of you..." Natsu growled lowly, his body temperature slowly rising along with his anger.

Luke ran down the stairs, panting slightly as he turned around to smirk at Selene. "I win!" He said with a victorious grin.

"Oh yeah yeah..." Selene waved a dismissive hand as she rested her elbows on the railing, looking down at the Fairy Tail mages and Cynthia. "Huh?"

Luke raised an eyebrow at the group, "Huh? What do you want, Lucy?" He asked, ignoring the other mages completely.

Lucy sighed, averting her gaze from Luke as she spoke slowly, "I...we...we need your help with something..."

Luke blinked a few times, making sure he heard what Lucy just said correctly. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Don't make me say it again..." Lucy groaned, realizing how much Luke was enjoying this. "We need your help...! Wendy's been poisoned and I remembered you telling me about a place with flowers that can heal poison!"

"Oh?" Luke raised an eyebrow, "So you came to me?"

"We don't know where you found those flowers," Erza commented, "So we ask that you lead us to them."

Luke looked back at Zalen and Cygnus, who merely shrugged. Luke then turned back to the group, shrugging himself. "Well...I don't really have to help..."

"You little!" Natsu nearly swung a fist at Luke, but Lucy held him back, despite the urge to slap him rising.

"You're joking, right?" Gray asked, irritated with the mage's attitude.

"PLEASE!" Cynthia blurted out, catching everyone's attention. "Wendy could die...! Please help her, Luke...!"

Luke stared at Cynthia before sighing, "Fine, fine, I'll help YOU. I'm not doing this for you Fairy Tail mages however." He shook his head and smirked, "And if you said please like this little girl, I would've said yes right away."

"I hate you..." Lucy scowled.

"Hate you too," Luke smirked before walking out of the building, "Follow me." Natsu, Happy, Gray, Lucy, Cynthia, and Erza followed Luke outside. Before Erza walked out the door, a bullet hit the wall just inches away from her head, causing her to turn around with a glare. Reve was standing in the kitchen with a simple pistol, smirking at Titania. He gave her a wink before turning around and walking off.


	15. Chapter 15: The Lone Plant

"Who was that?" Erza scowled, walking out of the doors to White Eclipse.

"Oh, just Reve. That's his way of saying hello," Luke replied, smirking slightly.

"He almost hit me..." Erza frowned.

"If he wanted to he would have," Luke's smirked widened slightly. "He's the one who defeated Freed, after all. As did Michio."

"You better shut up about your stupid record..." Natsu growled.

"Or what?" Luke looked over his shoulder at the pink-haired mage, practically daring him to make a move.

"N-Natsu...!" Lucy held onto Natsu's hand, stopping him from making any sudden movements, though it wouldn't take much for Lucy to jump on Luke either.

Luke chuckled, looking forward at the snowy landscape, "You know, Wendy picked a really bad time to get poisoned."

"There is never a good time to get poisoned, smartass," Gray replied.

"Watch your attitude with me, Gray, unless you want another ass kicking," Luke replied with a smirk.

"Gray..." Erza said in her normal, threatening tone that said "If you attack Luke I'll kill you".

"Why is it a bad time?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, those flowers I mentioned...aren't exactly in season right now..." Luke stated.

"What do you mean they aren't in season?" Lucy asked with a frustrated tone.

"I mean that this is usually the season those flowers start dying and whatnot," Luke nodded.

"WHAT!?" The group let out a shout, then glared at Luke for not saying anything earlier.

"Why are we walking then?!" Happy exclaimed.

"Because the rush of knowing these flowers are dying would cause us to run, and on a snowy mountain like this, we'd probably get lost if I was rushed," Luke explained with a calm composure.

"B-But Wendy's in danger!" Cynthia cried out, looking up at Luke.

"I am aware of this," Luke said. "Don't worry. Today is the day the flowers start dying. So we have plenty of time."

"You should REALLY start telling us these things first, you know!" Lucy huffed, crossing her arms under her large chest.

"Oh, I did a lot things first, didn't I?" Luke scoffed. Lucy and Natsu scowled slightly, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

As Luke lead the group of six down the trail, another person was following them. They were unaware of the person stalking them behind the shadow of the trees. "Juvia doesn't trust Lucy with Gray-sama...she might attempt to steal him away from Juvia! Luke might hurt Gray-sama while Juvia isn't watching too!" The love crazed water mage nodded to herself, slowly creeping behind the group as she kept her eyes focused on only Gray.

Luke lead the group to a cave entrance, motioning for them to follow him inside. "Be careful, it gets a little narrow here."

"How do you know this place...?" Cynthia asked, following behind Luke.

"I came to this area a lot here with a friend in the past," Luke replied.

"Lucy?" Cynthia asked obliviously.

Lucy's eye twitched, "If he brought me here, I wouldn't have had to ask for his help, Cynthia," Lucy said in a grumpy tone.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy," Luke smirked, though Lucy couldn't see it because she was behind him.

"You make me grumpy," Lucy scoffed.

"Then I guess I'm doing my job," Luke replied.

"Can you two not fight?" Cynthia pleaded.

"We've fought before," Luke started, "I believe our record is three zero, right, Lucy?"

"OKAY I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU!" Lucy growled, tackling Luke to the ground.

"L-LUCY!" Happy leaned back, surprised by Lucy's sudden jump.

"Lucy, calm down!" Erza shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears. Lucy was livid.

"Got your panties in a twist or something, amigo?" Luke replied, not even fazed by the fact Lucy was gripping him by the collar and growling lowly.

"I've had it up to HERE with you, Luke," Lucy glared right into Luke's eyes.

"What are you gonna do? Fight me? Because I think we all know how that'll turn out," Luke just smirked that confident smirk that easily got under Lucy's skin. Lucy actually raised a fist into the air, but before she could swing it down, Erza had grabbed it, shaking her head. Lucy looked back at Erza, then slowly got off Luke, dusting herself off. "..."

Luke stood up slowly acting as though that event didn't even happen. He would've up and left right there, but he was helping Cynthia, and he wouldn't go back on his word to her. "Anyway, there should be a big clearing of purple flowers up ahead in a little bit."

"What do we do once we get the flowers?" Gray asked, "How will they help Wendy?"

"Simple," Luke started. "First, you take the petals of the flower and grind them up into some kinda liquid. Soup preferably. Then, you just give said liquid to Wendy and she should be fine within the next day."

"I wouldn't expect you of all people to know about flowers," Natsu grumbled. "Did you copy your knowledge of flowers from someone or something?"

"I only copy magic, not knowledge," Luke replied. "If I copied intelligence, I'd be as dumb as you, Salamander."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Natsu growled audibly towards the White Eclipse mage.

"Natsu, he's just trying to get under your skin," Happy said.

"Well it's working!" Natsu yelled.

"It doesn't take much to set you off, does it?" Luke sighed.

"He IS a hot head after all..." Gray chuckled slightly.

"You wanna droopy eyes?" Natsu shifted his glare from Luke to Gray.

"Pfft, you ain't ready, squinty eyes." Gray replied, now touching forehead to forehead with Natsu.

"Oh you can't be serious..." Lucy sighed.

"I'll take you on right now, Underpants!" Natsu smirked, a red light flowing from his body as a blue light flowed from Gray's.

"Natsu. Gray. Stop fighting. Right now," Erza's tone was annoyed; Natsu and Gray immediately stepped away from each other with nervous looks. "Good."

A few minutes passed for the traveling group until they entered a large open clearing. The group looked around, their eyes widening when they looked at the green patch of grass. There we no flowers. Natsu picked Luke up by the collar. "YOU LIED TO US!" He yelled, ready to throw him.

"NO I DIDN'T!" Luke's voice was honest. "I swear to every god out there that flowers SHOULD be in that green patch, right there!"

"THEN WHERE IS IT!?" Natsu's body then flared up as a vein showed; the Dragon Slayer was beyond livid at this point.

"N-Natsu, hold on!" Cynthia pleaded for him to wait as she pointed over, "There's a purple flower right there!"

"HMPH." Natsu carelessly threw Luke over to the side as he walked over to the flower. "Better not have been lying..." Natsu reached out for the flower until an arrow nearly hit his arm; luckily he had heard it coming and drew his arm back. "What the?!" He looked up, spotting several run of the mill dark mages on high ground with a large bag in their possession. The leader stepped forward; he was a middle aged male with dirty blonde hair, a five o' clock shadow, torn up brown pants, a raggy blue shirt, and torn up sneakers.

"Sorry, Fairy Tail, but that flower is ours," he said with a smirk. He then looked over his shoulder to his army of dark mages, "Get 'em!"


	16. Chapter 16: Battle for the Flower

"Who are these guys!?" Cynthia took a step back from the only flower left in the green patch.

"I think the better question is why did they nearly impaled Natsu with an arrow for a flower..." Luke replied.

"If you haven't noticed, we kinda need this flower, so we'll be taking it!" Lucy shouted over to the band of dark mages.

"Yeah, I don't think so." the blonde leader replied, stroking his chin with a smirk.

"And why not?" Erza replied, a sword requipping into her hand.

"You see," the leader started, pointing to the bag his lackey's were holding. "Around this time, these flowers sell for quite a nice price, and I could use some money like that for various...projects..."

"We'd let you have this flower if Wendy didn't need it to live, so you're going to have to make due with what you got," Gray replied.

"Your friend needs it to live?" The male asked, looking down at the purple flower on the green patch.

"Yes, Wendy needs it!" Natsu replied.

"Oh...well...I don't care," The leader smirked, pointing his finger forward, "Get that flower, and kill them all!" The mass of dark mages suddenly shouted and jumped down.

"I got it!" Happy swooped in, plucking the flower from the ground. "Let's go!"

"We aren't leaving without getting through these guys first," Erza said, rushing forward towards the mass of dark mages.

"Let's make this quick then! Wendy needs that flower as soon as possible!" Natsu pounded his fist together as flames surrounded his body; smirking. "I've been waiting all day to punch something too..."

.

.

Back at Fairy Tail, Carla kept an intense watch over Wendy, gasping every so often as the poison every so slowly crept its way across her upper body, now starting to go down her other arm. "Wendy..."

"Don't worry...they'll be back soon," Mirajane nodded and gave the Exceed a reassuring smile. "Natsu and Gray are out there, and Erza's there to keep them in check."

Carla nodded slowly, "I suppose you're right. I just hope this poison doesn't spread any faster..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt..." Romeo said almost quietly, "But has anyone seen Juvia...?"

.

.

"This is a pain...!" Luke groaned, holding a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of thick shadows in his other hand; he merged them together, creating a sphere of fire and shadows. "Dazzling blaze of the Shadow Fire Dragon!" He threw the sphere forward, the explosion knocking away a good chunk of the dark mages.

"Open, the gate of the cow! Taurus!" Lucy held one of her keys our, a large cow with a battle-axe rising from the ground with a loud MOOOO!

"I will do my best to protect Lucy-sama's nice body!" Taurus held his axe out, using both of his hands to swing it horizontally, the impact taking out a large amount of the weak mages.

"These guys are really weak..." Natsu sighed, easily hopping from one mage to the other after one hit KO'ing the former.

"We have numbers though!" The leader grinned, as even more dark mages appeared from all around. The leader then set his sights on Happy. "Get that cat!"

"That cat...OH THAT'S ME!" Happy panicked, turned around, and attempted to fly off, but a dark mage gripped him by the tail, smirking. "WAAHHH!"

"Leave Happy alone!" Cynthia threw a flaming fist at the dark mage, knocking them away from the Exceed.

"T-Thank you Cynthia!" Happy grinned.

Taurus eyed Lucy with hearts in his eyes, his body swaying from left to right, "About that reward..." Taurus started.

"...Nice job, Taurus!" Lucy forced a gate closure on the perverted cow, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Your spirits are something else..." Luke shook his head, turning his attention back to the surrounding dark mages. "It's just a flower! GEEZ!"

"Flowers that cure almost anything! Those sell for big a price, even higher when out of season!" The leader replied, crossing his arms as he stood behind his army, who were readying arrows.

Gray placed his fist into his palm, a chilling wind appearing around his feet. "Ice Make: Lance!" He threw his arms forward just as the mages unleashed their arrows; several crystallized ice lances flew forward, easily shattering some of the incoming arrows and took out several mages; however, more arrows simply rushed towards the group.

Erza looked back; her eyes wide as the arrows were nearly at her friends, "Watch out...!"

"Water Slicer!" Sharp beams of water shot out from behind the group, easily cutting through all the arrows that were coming.

"What the...?!" Gray, and the rest of the group turned around, spotting Juvia. "Juvia!?"

"Juvia will not allow any harm to come to Gray-sama!" Juvia exclaimed, glaring deeply at the dark mages who even set their eyes on him.

"S-She was following us!?" Cynthia asked, shocked that Juvia would come out so far.

"She was following Gray, I bet..." Lucy said.

"Juvia doesn't trust Lucy alone with Gray-sama," Juvia said, now shifting her glare over to Lucy.

"I'M NOT GONNA DO ANYTHING WITH GRAY!" Lucy flailed.

"That's right," Juvia replied. The leader had used this time to sneak over to Happy, swiping the flower from the little Exceed's paws.

"H-HEY!" Happy flailed. "He took the flower!"

"LIKE HELL!" Natsu charged forward with a flaming fist cocked back, but several weaker mages stood in his way; "Outta my way!" He managed to shove them all away from him, but he was tackled by even more dark mages, who were wearing fire resistant armor, so Natsu's flames were ineffective quickly.

"Natsu!" Erza changed into her Flight Armor, rushing at the group of mages who had Natsu pinned and slashed them away with little effort.

"We have to get that flower back!" Cynthia started. "Roar of the-"

"Wait!" Luke shook his head frantically. "You burn him, you burn the flower!"

"How unfortunate," the leader smirked, pulling out his own bow and arrow, pulling the arrow back as far as he could. "I guess 'll just have to end things now. It's a shame, I was having fun." He released the arrow, aiming right for Lucy, grinning as the arrow cut through the air and towards her.

"Get down, dammit!" Luke rushed forward, pushing Lucy away as the arrow hit his arm, causing him to fall to the ground.

"L-Luke...!?" Lucy rested on the rocky wall, surprised at what Luke just did.

"Lucy, are you okay!?" Natsu rushed over to Lucy.

"I-I'm fine..." Lucy panted, but she was alright.

Luke pulled the arrow out of his arm, rolling his shoulder slightly, "Ouch..."

"Luke...why did you...?" Lucy started.

"Don't even ask," Luke replied, "I already told you before; you ain't dyin' before we finish things, remember?" Lucy just stared at the mage, surprised how far he would go to keep his own words true.

"That's cute, a rivalry to almost die for," The leader pulled another arrow back, aiming at Luke this time, "I'll just end this quickly." He released the arrow, the arrow cutting through the air at a high-speed; before the arrow reached Luke, another arrow easily cut through that one and nearly hit the leader. "W-what the!?"

"Ice Dragon's Roar!"

"Fire Make: Tornado!" A unison raid of fire and ice spiraled down at the dark mages, the impact and explosion blowing more than three-fourths of them away.

"What's going on!?" The leader asked. A large root suddenly slapped the leader in the back, causing the flower to fly out of his hands. "NO!"

"I got it!" Cynthia rolled forward, catching the flower in her hands.

"Those moves..." Erza started, looking around the area until she saw a group of people standing on a ledge nearby.

On some high ground, four people stood. One was a teenage girl with light brown hair, a blue jeans and red shoes; she was also holding a bag of seeds in her hands. The next person was a male with blue hair tied back, a black and yellow jacket with a grey shirt underneath, light blue pants, and blue sneakers. The other was a male with red hair, tinted orange at the ends. He was shirtless, wearing a white long jacket. His pants were brown, along with his gloves and boots. The mage next to him was wearing hunting gear, their face hidden as they pointed our their bow.

Luke smirked at the sight of these mages, he knew exactly who they were. "Hanako, Waiston, Kuro, and Azeleon! Took you guys long enough!"


	17. Chapter 17: Flower Power

"HI LUKE!" The red haired mage named Kuro waved happily to his fellow guild member.

"I thought what you did was kinda cute, Luke," The light brown haired plant mage, Hanako, giggled.

"NOT CUTE," Luke groaned.

"Pretty careless if you ask me," Azeleon mumbled.

"I can hear you...and yeah. I shouldn't have, but we all know she can't take a hit for crap so someone had to do something..." Luke sighed.

"RIGHT HERE!" Lucy yelled.

Juvia eyed Waiston, the eyeing eventually turning into a glare. "You..."

"Huh?" Waiston looked over at Juvia with a puzzled expression, "Me?"

"You hurt Gray-sama, didn't you!?" Juvia shouted.

"Juvia, now isn't the time for that!" Gray sighed, "I beat him anyway, so it's okay!"

"We're here to help!" Kuro said joyously.

"We'll hold these guys off," Hanako said with a smirk, "You guys hurry up and get that flower to your friend!"

Luke coated his injury with ice, rolling his shoulder, "Oi, you ain't fightin' without me!"

"Heh, I was hoping that little flesh wound wouldn't keep you down!" Waiston smirked.

"Go, go!" Hanako waved her hands as the Fairy Tail mages and Cynthia exited the clearing, using large tree roots to cover the entrance.

The group quickly backtracked their way through the caves while the members of White Eclipse held off the mass of dark mages. Cynthia held the flower protectively to her chest so nothing would happen to it. Back at Fairy Tail, the poison in Wendy's body slowly made its way down her chest. It was spreading at an alarming rate now, signaling that she didn't have much time left. "Happy!" Natsu shouted, "Once we get out of this cave, Max Speed Cynthia over to Fairy Tail!

"Aye, Sir!" Happy nodded, flying at a steady pace. They neared the cave exit with no trouble, but before they could actually exit the cave, a mass of even more dark mages appeared from the shadows, lunging themselves towards Cynthia.

"Cynthia, watch out!" Gray stuck his hands forward, a blue magic circle appearing, "Ice Make: Hammer!" An ice hammer shot out from the magic circle. Cynthia ducked as the hammer flew over her head and struck the dark mages, forcing them out of the cave. However, more dark mages came from seemingly nowhere, their eyes fixed on the flower Cynthia was holding.

"It's just a flower!" Lucy groaned, pulling out another key.

"I'll stay here and hold these guys off, you guys go!" Gray demanded.

"Juvia will stay with Gray-sama and make sure no harm comes to him," Juvia nodded, a serious expression on her face.

"This has to be the last area where they are," Erza thought aloud, "I'll stay and help out."

Juvia scowled to herself as she entered a state of inner monologue, "Juvia also wanted some along time with Gray-sama…."

"We'll go on ahead then!" Natsu nodded as he, Lucy, and Cynthia ran out the cave into the snowy mountain trail. It was nighttime, making the trail slightly harder to see.

"Which way do we go…?" Cynthia asked, unable to see anything in the darkness.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted.

"Aye!" Happy went swoop in to grab Cynthia, but a bolt of lightning fried him, causing him to land in the snow. "Aye…."

"Who?!" Natsu turned, spotting ANOTHER horde of dark mages behind them.

"How many of these guys are there?!" Lucy groaned. "Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!" Lucy held her key forward as the Celestial Spirit Scorpio appeared.

"We are!" Scorpio exclaimed, leaning forward as he pointed his stinger out, "Sand Buster!" A hurricane of sand flew out from Scorpio's stinger, blowing some of the group away.

"Cynthia, get away from here!" Lucy exclaimed.

"But what about you guys?!" Cynthia asked.

"We'll be fine! RUN! Get to Wendy!" Natsu yelled, flames surrounding his body, causing the snow around him to melt.

"H-Hai…" Cynthia left the last group of dark mages to deal with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. She remembered how to get to Magnolia, so she sprinted as fast as her legs would allow her down the mountain. When she finally got down the mountain, three more dark mages surrounded her. "W-WHAT!? "

"You honestly didn't think you would be getting away so easily, did you?" A mage said, grinning.

"Why are you doing this?! I just want to heal Wendy!" Cynthia cried, realizing she had nowhere to go, and to defend herself meant burning the flour.

"As you can tell, we don't care about your Wendy. We just want the flower for profit. If you get hurt, it's all on you because we warned you. Now, we'll give you one last chance to hand it over before we hurt you. "

"N-NO!" Cynthia clutched the flower closely to her, glaring at the mages towering over her. The next second, diamond structures shot up from the ground and trapped the mages. "Huh…?" Cynthia looked around, spotting none other than Selene a few feet away.

"Are you okay?" Selene asked, dusting her hands off.

"You…you're White Eclipse…right…?" Cynthia asked, slowly removing herself from the circle of trapped mages.

"Yes," She nodded, answering shortly.

"I thought you guys didn't like Fairy Tail…" Cynthia mumbled.

"I don't really care much about them…yeah," Selene nodded once again. "But Luke was helping you, so I was helping him, help you."

"A-Arigato…" Cynthia nodded slowly.

"Don't mention it…seriously, don't," Selene turned away, crossing her arms. "Shouldn't you be going somewhere…?

"WENDY!" Cynthia quickly sprinted off. It was a long trip, but Cynthia quickly made her way back to Fairy Tail, plowing through the doors. "I-I got it!"

"She's back!" Bisca gasped.

"Where are the others?" Levy asked, surprised that Cynthia was the only one to return.

"They're on the way, but c'mon!" Cynthia held the flower out. "Someone make some soup or something!"

"On it!" Levy wrote the word "Soup" in the air with her Solid Script Magic, causing a bowl of soup to appear from thin air. Cynthia then crushed up the purple flower petals and placed them in the soup. She then took the soup, and rushed over to Wendy's side, gasping at how far the poison spread.

"W-Wendy…!" Cynthia was taken aback slightly.

"Is that it…?!" Carla asked hopefully.

"Hai!" Cynthia then took a spoonful of soup and slid it into Wendy's mouth. A few minutes later, the poison slowly started to fade away.


	18. Chapter 18: Welcome to Fairy Tail

Natsu opened the doors to Fairy Tail, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Happy, Juvia, and Lucy behind him. They were a little beat up, but nothing a good night's rest would not handle. "You're back?" Gajeel asked, "What took ya all so long?"

"Those mages were like cockroaches," Lucy sighed, "No matter how many times you knock them out they just get back up…"

"That's semi ironic, gieheh," Gajeel smirked.

Lucy blinked before puffing her cheeks out and huffing. "Where's Cynthia? She made it back, right?"

"She's in there with Wendy and Carla," Cana replied, chugging down a barrel of beer.

"Did it work…?" Erza asked for confirmation; if it didn't she would be making a special visit to White Eclipse.

"Mhm! It worked!" Levy said with a huge grin, "The poison faded away quicker than it spread. Wendy's still out though. She should be waking up soon, I bet."

"I could use a fish after all that hard word…" Happy laid his back on a table, sighing.

"You didn't even do anything…" Lucy muttered before walking into the infirmary to see the results herself. Carla had fallen asleep next to Wendy, while Cynthia was still awake, keeping a watchful eye over both Wendy and her Exceed. "You're still awake…?" Lucy asked, walking over to Cynthia.

Cynthia moved her black hair out of her eyes, nodding slowly as she looked up at Lucy. "Hai…I want to make sure she's okay…"

Lucy took a seat next to Cynthia, placing her hands in her lap as she looked over at her, "That's usually our job, haha," Lucy replied, smiling slightly.

"I wanted to repay her for her kindness…" Cynthia said. "She's the first person who showed me real kindness…"

"Huh…?" Lucy blinked, "Real…kindness…?"

Cynthia nodded slowly, a somber expression on her face now as she gazed at Wendy. "She didn't even know me, but the first thing she did was heal me…and I heard she was the one who wanted to bring me here…and healed me again after that fight with Natsu…"

"Wendy's a nice person," Lucy nodded, smiling. "She's always willing to help others."

"And I want to repay her for all the niceness," Cynthia gave a small, genuine smile.

Lucy stood up slowly, flashing a smile, "Call me before you pass out, and I'll take over, okay?" She then walked out of the infirmary with a smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Gray asked, taking a seat on a chair.

"Cynthia's a nice person," Lucy grinned, taking a nod.

"We still don't know anything about her though," Cana replied.

"Can't we ask her later?" Lucy folded her arms under her chest, looking over at Cana.

"As long as she gives us a suitable story, I don't mind her sticking around Wendy," Erza replied.

.

.

Back at White Eclipse, the mages who fought were now resting inside. A girl with blonde hair, green eyes, a black bow tied on the back of her hair, a pink shirt and black skirt placed her hands over Luke's injury, a sea green light emitting from her hands as the wound slowly closed. "You need to stop being so reckless," the female sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"Oh, come on, Aira," Luke started. "I saved two lives today, and only at the cost of a small hole in my arm. I think that's a pretty fair trade off."

"Oi…" Aira sighed as she took her hands off Luke's arm. "All finished. Don't give that arm any major movement for the next few hours and you'll be good to go."

"Thanks, Aira," Luke nodded, standing up and stretching his arm as he walked into the main room.

"Yo, Luke," Waiston was chewing on a piece of ice as Luke walked in the main room. "I have a question."

"Ask away," Luke sat on the couch, turning his head to Waiston.

"Who was that girl…?" Waiston asked, shoveling the last piece of ice into his mouth.

"That's the girl I was telling the other's about the other day. I think she said her name was Cynthia," Luke replied.

"There was something odd about her, don't you think…?" Waiston asked, leaning back against the wall.

"Yeah…she's an Omega Fire Dragon Slayer," Luke replied, "She battled with Natsu within two minutes of them meeting. She wasn't exactly in the best state of mind either."

"What the heck is an Omega Fire Dragon Slayer?" Waitson asked with a puzzled expression over his face.

"I have no idea. All I know is that Natsu couldn't eat her flames, yet she could eat his…there's certainly something off about that girl…"

.

.

The sun rose slowly on the east. Inside the Fairy Tai infirmary, Wendy was the only one awake out of her, Carla, and Cynthia. When she looked around, she noticed it was indeed early morning. She looked over at Cynthia, thinking; "Did she stay here the entire time…?" She then looked over at Carla, who she knew was with her the entire time. "Carla too…" Wendy smiled at them both before laying back down, allowing her body to get more rest. A few hours passed; when Wendy woke up, Cynthia was still by her side. She could tell the guild was starting to fill with people from the noises coming from the main room. She sat up slowly, though her movement caused Cynthia to stir.

"Hrn…" Cynthia lifted her head up slowly, her eyes fluttering as she opened them slowly. "W-Wendy…!"

"Cynthia…how long have you been here…?" Wendy asked, tilting her head slowly.

"Since last night…I guess I fell asleep…" Cynthia rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Are you feeling okay…?"

Wendy nodded, smiling lightly, "I am!"

"Good! Can you stand…?" Cynthia stood up, stretching her arms out as she yawned loudly.

"I think so…" Wendy hopped out of bed, wobbling just slightly, but she was able to keep her balance as she took a few steps forward.

"C'mon, let's show everyone you're feeling better!" Cynthia grabbed Wendy by the hand, and walked into the busy main area of the guild.

"Hello, minna~!" Wendy grinned happily; the sight of her feeling better caused everyone to jump for joy.

"Wendy!" Everyone crowded around the young girl, bombarding her with questions if she was all right and such. Cynthia smiled lightly, taking a seat on stool at the bar.

"You say by her the whole night?" Mirajane asked, leaning on the counter of the bar.

"Well…I kinda fell asleep, but yeah," Cynthia grinned.

"That's quite thoughtful of you considering you barely know her," Markarov commented, taking a sip from his mug of beer.

"I wanted to repay her for her kindness…" Cynthia nodded. "I like Wendy…she's the first person who's ever been nice to me…"

"You're welcome to visit her anytime you wish," Markarov nodded.

"R-Really? Fairy Tail too…?" Cynthia's eyes widened; she was starting to enjoy being around this place, and she would love to stay around it longer.

"Of course, you can visit us anytime you want," Markarov said with a smile.

"I-In that case…I…" Cynthia mumbled the last part under her breath, her heart beating erratically from nervousness.

"What did she say…?" Mirajane asked the Master with a puzzled expression.

"I'm afraid you'll have to speak up, Cynthia," The Master said, looking up at her. "Would you please repeat what you just said?

"I…I…" Cynthia took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she blurted out the next line loud enough for everyone inside to hear; "I WANT TO JOIN FAIRY TAIL!" Everyone stopped, looking over in Cynthia's direction.

Markarov smirked slightly, figuring out that that is what she was going so say eventually. "You want to join, hm? And why is that?"

Cynthia's heart sunk; she needed a reason? Wait…she already had a few reason. "This guild…it's so nice…you have people like Wendy…and it's so lively. This place has been the first to ever show me kindness. Plus, I can see how everyone…everyone treats each other like family…how you all stood by Wendy when she was sick…I could see how worried you all were…it touched my heart…I love this place already!"

"Gihehe…you idiots sure have a way with people, don't 'cha?" Gajeel smirked slightly.

"I have on last question for you, Cynthia," Markarov said, nodding sternly.

"W-What is it…?" Cynthia nervously bit her lower lip as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling the eyes of everyone staring at her.

"Where would you like your guild mark?"


	19. Chapter 19: New Girl

Cynthia sat down at a table in a short sleeve shirt, long black pants, and her black hair tied in a ponytail. It was a few weeks since she had joined Fairy Tail, and she was still ecstatic about meeting all of the members, especially the other Dragon Slayers, such as Gajeel and Laxus. Cynthia heard stories about Laxus during her stay in Fairy Tail, so as soon as he stepped through the door, she rushed over to him, Wendy following her on the side. "Hi Hi!"

Laxus looked down at the girl, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you…?"

"My name is Cynthia! And!" She showed her right shoulder, revealing her red Fairy Tail guild mark; "I'm a member of Fairy Tail!"

"I see…Well, welcome to Fairy Tail," Laxus shrugged Cynthia off as he walked inside, only to be greeted once again by the Thunder God Tribe, Freed Justine, Bickslow, and Evergreen. "Oh…"

"D-Don't let Laxus-san's attitude get to you! He's usually like that to newcomers, he'll warm up to you…I hope!" Wendy said with a nervous smile.

"I guess it takes a while for people to warm up to the new girl…" Cynthia frowned a bit, ten turned around only to see Natsu standing on a table with a fist engulfed in flames.

"Laxus, fight me!" Natsu jumped off the table, his fist cocked back as he aimed himself at Laxus. Natsu didn't even get a chance to swing as Laxus just raised his fist and slammed it over Natsu's head, one hit Ko'ing Salamander into the floor, twitching.

"What just…" Cynthia started.

"That's what usually happens when Natsu tries to challenge an S Class here…" Wendy laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head.

"Are they really that powerful…? I mean…look at him…" Cynthia pointed at Natsu, who was twitching on the floor.

"S-Strong…" Natsu muttered, groaning.

Freed walked over to Cynthia and Wendy, overhearing their conversation about Laxus and the S class mages. "Laxus is indeed very powerful," Freed said while waving a finger in the air. "He is one of Fairy Tail's strongest mages, just behind Gildarts."

"Gildarts…?" Cynthia asked. "He's the ace, right?"

"That's right," Freed nodded. "He is a very powerful mages as well, specializing in Crash Magic. We have to move the entire town around whenever he's in the area."

"Wait…this town…moves?" Cynthia blinked.

"Mhm!" Wendy nodded, pulling Cynthia outside. "Whenever Gildarts-san comes around, the town is moved so he has a straight path right to the guild."

"Why is that? Doesn't he know where this place is…?" This subject was only confusing the newest Fairy Tail mage even more.

"He's uh…not the…smartest person…" Wendy laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Oi, did you hear?" Gray asked, walking up to the guild (With Juvia behind him of course) , hearing most of Cynthia and Wendy's conversation.

"Oh, Gray-san! Juvia-san!" Wendy waved to the pair. Gray turned around, startled at the fact Juvia was behind.

"G-Gah! Juvia! How long have you been behind me?" Gray placed a hand over his heart, feeling it beat erratically from the shock of being followed.

"Since Gray-sama left on his job earlier today!" Juvia nodded with a smile. "Juvia wanted to make sure Grau-sama didn't get hurt!"

"That's…a little…" Cynthia coughed, "Creepy…"

"Anyway…" Gray started; "Gildarts is returning soon."

"Wait, really!?" Cynthia's eyes widened. "I didn't think I'd get to meet him so soon…!"

"How soon?" Wendy asked.

"Oh, I passed him on the way here…and he said you guys might wanna get ready…" Gray chuckled a bit, heading inside to tell Markarov the news.

"We should get inside…" Wendy pulled Cynthia inside. A few minutes later, the town started shifting around. The buildings started to raise as a single, straightforward path leading to the guild was left.

"W-Whoa…!" Cynthia stared in amazement, her eyes widening. "T-The whole town gets moved just for him!?"

"It's very necessary," Lisanna commented, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Natsu sprung up immediately after picking up Gildart's scent, recovering from the mishap with Laxus as if nothing even happened. "Gildarts is coming back!? I can't wait!"

"Natsu…you…and that just…but…" Cynthia just…sighed as she dismissed the question, and stared at the door intently. After what seemed like an eternity, which in reality was only about ten minutes, the door slowly opened. The Crash Mage himself, Gildarts stepped in with a small bag held over his should. He looked around for a bit before smiling to everyone.

"Hello, everyone!" Gildarts exclaimed, looking around his beloved guild.

"Gildarts!" As if Laxus didn't beat him at all, Natsu held his fist back, charging towards the Ace of Fairy Tail. "Fight me!" Natsu exclaimed. Before Natsu could even swing, Gildarts grabbed Natsu, using his momentum to toss him into the ceiling effortlessly. Natsu was now stuck on the ceiling, twitching. "Y-Yup…still strong…"

"Holy…" Cynthia gasped. "He's gonna come down, right…?"

"Maybe…" Happy snickered.

Gildarts set his eyes on his daughter, Cana, and grinned. "CANNAAAAAAA!"

"Oh god no…!" Before Cana could hop off the bar stool, Gildarts already had her in his arms and started cradling her, hearts in his eyes. "Get offa me!"

"Uh…" Cynthia blinked at Gildart's smothering of Cana. "What…what is that about…?"

"Oh, that?" Wendy snickered a bit. "Cana is Gildarts's daughter, and he shows her a lot of love…"

"Too much love, dammit!" Cana yelled, flailing her arms around.

"That's what love in family looks like…huh…?" Cynthia watched the pair of father and daughter for a while before sighing and turning her head away.

"Cynthia…?" Wendy looked over at Cynthia with a worried expression. "Are you okay…?"

"I'm fine…." Cynthia flashed Wendy a small smile before getting an idea. Cana finally pushed Gildarts away, glaring at him with annoyance.

"What part of "go as normal" don't you understand, you old man!? UGH." Cana groaned, sitting back at the bar.

"I can't help it if I love you!" Gildarts grinned, ready to smother her in love once again.

"Uhm…excuse me, Gildarts…?" Cynthia poked Gildart's side, causing him to turn around and look down.

"Hm? Who might you be?" Gildarts placed a hand on his chin.

"My name is Cynthia, I joined Fairy Tail a few weeks ago!" Cynthia grinned, showing her Fairy Tail mark.

"That's great! Nice to meet you, Cynthia. My name is Gildarts Clive, Fairy Tail's Ace." Gildarts replied with a smile.

"Oh, I know! I wanted to ask you something…" Cynthia said, looking down as she shuffled around on her feet awkwardly.

"Ask away," Gildarts replied.

"Well…it's not really a question…but I…uhm…er…" She tripped over her words, afraid of what everyone might think.

"You…?" Gildarts set his bag on the counter, eying Cynthia curiously.

"I…I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!" Cynthia blurted out, causing everyone once again to stare in her direction, only this time with widened eyes.


	20. Chapter 20: Cynthia vs Gildarts

"I…I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!" Cynthia blurted out, causing everyone once again to stare in her direction, only this time with widened eyes.

"You WHAT!?" Natsu unhooked himself from the ceiling, landing on the floor face first.

"She what…?!" Wendy gasped, her eyes wider than anyone else's.

"That's a man!" Eflman commented, raising a fist into the air.

"I'm a GIRL YOU IDIOT," Cynthia shouted back at Elfman, "I mean…no I meant that." She turned back to Gildarts. "Please…?"

Gildarts pondered on this fought for a moment before nodding slowly, "Alright…I suppose I can give you a fight."

"R-Really?!" Cynthia's blue eyes lit up with excitement.

"Of course," Gildarts nodded once again, starting to walk out the building. "Follow me; I know a place where nothing of importance should get destroyed." Cynthia followed, along with everyone else in the guild, wanting to see how this fight would turn out. Lucy walked inside, noticing that everyone leaving.

"Huh? What's going on?" Lucy asked, confused on where everyone was going.

"Cynthia challenged Gildarts to a battle and he accepted!" Natsu flailed his arms around.

"Cynthia did WHAT!?" Lucy's eyes widened. "I have to see this!"

"Then come on!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her out the Fairy Tail building.

.

.

After a bit of traveling, Fairy Tail eventually came to the beach. A part of it where nothing would get destroyed if the battle were to get too intense. The guild members took a seat a good distance away from Cynthia and Gildarts. "How many seconds do you think she'll last…?" Happy asked the group.

"I say two hits," Gajeel stated.

"Probably one," Laxus replied, leaning back.

"If you don't mind, I have to mentally prepare myself," Gildarts said, taking in a deep breath. "I'm not too good at holding back, you see…"

"Of course, take all the time you need," Cynthia, replied, preparing herself mentally and physically for the battle that was about to happen. She had no idea just how strong Gildarts really was, but she wanted to see where she stood a as a mage, just so she wouldn't be a burden to anyone else in a fight. "I'm ready…" Cynthia said with a stern nod.

"As am I," Gildarts replied, "Ladies first…"

'Hai!" And with that Cynthia sprinted forward towards her opponent, cocking her fist back as she was preparing herself to us a non-magical attack, just to test Gildart's strength. "Get ready!" She swung her fist forward, only for it to be quickly and easily blocked by Gildarts's forearm. Cynthia's eyes widened for two reasons. One, she noticed how easily her punch was blocked, and two, she just now noticed the bandages all over Gildarts's body and the state it was in. The next thing she knew Gildarts's elbow had rammed into her abdomen, sending her back across the sand a few feet before she sprang back up.

"That's one hit…" Gajeel smirked, looking over at Laxus, "She's done after the next."

Cynthia charged once again, red flames engulfing her fist; "Omega Fire Dragon's Fist!" She threw a heated fist at Gildarts once more, aiming for a blow to his chest, but he brought his bandaged arm in, blocking the attack easily, his expression unchanged. Cynthia wasn't ready to give up though, she quickly hopped up off the ground, flames surrounding her feet as she attempted to bring them down on Gildarts's head, but he opened his hand, a bright white light shining as Cynthia's flames had been put out, her foot caught easily. "What?!" A bright light formed around Gildarts's hand, and he shot out a large white beam from his palm, engulfing Cynthia in the blast, sending her rolling across the sand before coming to a stop.

"I think she's going to need a healer after this…" Cana sighed.

"Cynthia…" Wendy just watched carefully.

"I'm...not finished yet!" For such a young girl, she had a surprising amount of endurance, especially for going up against Gildarts. It probably had something to do with the fact she was a Dragon Slayer, who usually had enhanced durability. Cynthia stood up, then snapped her fingers, causing red magic circles to appear around all angles of the Fairy Tail ace.

"What the?" This almost caught Gildarts off guard, but he quickly brought his cape forward as a sort of defense as the red magic circles unleashed blazing red flames on him, creating a small cloud of smoke.

"I got him!" Cynthia grinned as she stared into the smoke, her grin quickly fading as she noticed that Gildarts was seemingly unharmed. "WHAT!?"

"She's not bad," Gildarts thought to himself, acknowledging the fact that any other mage would've been heavily damaged, and that he himself may have been damaged if he hadn't defended in time. He threw his cape aside waiting to see what else Cynthia had in store. Cynthia wasted no time in charging forward, flames engulfing her hands and feet once again as she rushed Gildarts, throwing well aimed and powered punches and kicks towards his torso and face area. However, the Ace had an easy time blocking or deflecting the punches, putting little effort into blocking them. Cynthia was growing frustrated that none of her attacks were landing, so she took a leap into the air, aiming a fist at Gildarts's head. He blocked the incoming fist with his forearm, feeling the power behind it. "Hmmm," he thought, staring into Cynthia's eyes. She was serious about this fight, and she wanted to prove how strong she was. Gildarts cocked his metal are back, and aimed it at Cynthia's causing her to fly into the air.

"I think that's it..." Gray mumbled, watching the helpless Cynthia fly into the air.

"Not even!" Cynthia grinned, using the air to her advantage as she placed her feet together, spinning around as she turned into a tornado of red fire. "Fire Tornado!" She dove down at Gildarts with amazing speed and force, causing Fairy Tail's Ace to use raise both of his arms over his head as Cynthia crashed into him. Gildarts stopped Cynthia's momentum as a bright white light appeared under the sand, causing a large hole to form under Gildarts as he used the ground as a cushion to negate the force of Cynthia's attack. Gildarts then grabbed the poor challenger by her legs and swung her around like a rag doll before tossing her into the sand with what he thought was normal force while normal to him meant extremely powerful to a normal mage such as Cynthia, causing her to roll around in the sand before stopping, panting heavily. She placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle to form; "Omega Fire Dragon's Line!" A trail of fire shot up from the ground, ripping through the sand and the air as it rushed towards Gildarts. Gildarts could feel the force of the attack as it neared, so he stuck his hand out, grabbing and stopping the line just before it hit him, disassembling the flame easily. Cynthia used this time to approach her opponent while her arms were ablaze, trailing fire as if they were wings. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!"

"HEY THAT'S MY MOVE!" Natsu flailed.

"Oops," Cynthia thought as she heard Natsu in the background, aiming herself at Gildarts as she "flew" towards him. Gildarts brought his forearm back, swinging it right into Cynthia's face, cancelling her attack out as she landed on her back on the sand.

"Oh, I can't watch this!" Wendy covered her eyes, unable to watch Cynthia become Gildarts's punching bag.

"I'm...I'm.. not finished yet!" Cynthia stood up once again, running towards Gildarts, as her flames grew darker. Cynthia jumped up holding tucking her body in as she spun in a wheel like motion; "Flame Wheel!" She dove directly at Gildarts, who just smirked. Gildarts held his hand out, using his disassembly magic to shoot out a white magical net, removing Cynthia's magic from around her. Gildarts then waited until she got close before swinging the back of his arm at the girl, sending Cynthia across the sand before coming to a stop once again, already bruised and battered.

"I think this battle is over…" Lucy curled her lip, frowning slightly.

"She lasted a bit longer than I thought…I guess I have to give her credit…" Gajeel shrugged.

Cynthia laid on the ground, images of something flooding into her mind. "She's pretty strong now, don't you think?" a voice said in a flashback. "I bet she could take on the legendary Gildarts Clive at this rate!"

"HA! Are you joking!?" Another voice said, "She wouldn't last three hits. She's too weak," Another voice said, in a blatant mocking tone. Everyone thought Cynthia was weak from where she came from, she didn't want to seem weak to everyone at Fairy Tail. She wanted to prove she was strong enough to protect everyone on her own if she needed to.

"Hm, she has untapped potential," Gildarts thought to himself.

"He didn't even take a single step," Happy pointed out.

"I'm…I'm not finished yet…" Cynthia placed her hands on the sand, lifting herself up slowly as dark flames flared around her body wildly. She stood up, her sand covered black hair in front of her eyes. "I'M NOT FINISHED!"

"Eh?" Gildarts's eyes widened just slightly, obviously surprised. "What is this…?!"

"C-Cynthia…!?" Wendy took a step back, this side of Cynthia much different from the scared little girl she saw on the mountainside.

Cynthia stared Gildarts down, and then rushed forward at him instantly. Gildarts could sense a power increase so great that he actually took a step back to avoid Cynthia's incoming punch, much to everyone's surprised.

"HE MOVED!" Happy flailed his arms around.

Cynthia then threw a quickly kick to Gildarts's side, but he JUMPED back to avoid it, cocking his metal arm back. Cynthia threw a dark red fire punch at Gildarts and Gildarts threw his own fist at Cynthia's, causing the two to clash; the magical pressure was so great it caused a shockwave and the wind to blow violently. Cynthia flew back from the collision, sliding back across the sand on her feet before coming to a stop. Gildarts was also thrown back, but not as far as Cynthia as his cape flapped from the raging wind.

"SHE CLASHED WITH GILDARTS WHAT IS THIS?!" Happy continued to flail, not having seen anything like this when it came to Gildarts fighting.

"M-Man…" Elfman started in amazement.

"Hmm…" Laxus watched the female Dragon Slayer carefully, his interest in her fighting abilities starting to show.

Cynthia lunged at Gildarts once again, jumping up to throw a flaming fist at his chest, but he brought his arm up just in time to block it. Cynthia then shifted her body weight, aiming an axe kick at Gildarts's head, but he raised his arm, blocking that too. He then used his brute strength to push Cynthia away once again, causing her to land on all fours in a frog-like position on the sand. She stood up puffing her cheeks out, "Roar of the Omega Fire Dragon!" She lurched forward, opening her mouth as she sent a giant funnel of dark red flames at the Crash Mage. Gildarts held his hand out, "Catching" the flame as it made contact. His hand glowed brightly as he dissembled the flame, causing it to vanish…however, he wasn't expecting one thing. Cynthia had jumped into the flame just as he dispersed it, with a flaming fist cocked back. With speed faster than he could react, Cynthia landed a flaming fist right at Gildart's face; a direct hit, causing the mighty Gildarts to take a step back from the impact.

"SHE HIT HIM?! WAAAAAAH!?" Happy's jaw dropped as he, and everyone else, saw the direct hit. Were they dreaming!?

"S-She hit him…" Natsu watched in amazement as Gildarts actually took some kind of damage and stumbled back again.

Cynthia continued her assault, aiming another axe kick, but Gildarts recovered just in time to block it. Cynthia was upside down, smirking; she puffed her cheeks out, releasing a giant funnel of dark red flames at point blank range towards Gildarts, the large funnel engulfing him and the half of the coastline as well. As the attack settled down, Gildarts had his arms up, though his body was indeed burned. He was clearly damaged, and he slid back across the sand much farther than Natsu slid him back during their battle during the S Class exams. Everyone's eyes widened considerably; what they just watched was amazing.

"Cynthia…" Wendy muttered, staring at her in amazement.

Cynthia panted heavily, falling to her knees. "I…I got'cha..."

Gildarts lowered his arms, smirking slightly. "Yes, yes you did."

"I can keep going...!" Cynthia stood up slowly, her knees wobbling. "I have to prove I'm strong..."

"You want to keep going?" Gildarts asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his bandaged arm.

"I want you to go all out! No holding back!" Cynthia replied, allowing the dark red flames to dance wildly around her body once more.

"NO, NO, NO YOU DON'T WANT THAT!" Happy yelled.

"I-IS SHE SERIOUS!" Lucy's jaw dropped as her eyes widen, gripping the side o her head as she flailed around.

"She's serious," Laxus mumbled, eying the girl intently. How she went from being unable to cause any damage from causing Gildarts to actually try intrigued him.

"I'm serious," Cynthia replied with a stern nod, looking at her opponent. She was happy with the face she know she caused damage, but she wanted to keep going. She knew it was foolish, especially considering she knew she was the new girl at Fairy Tail, but she wanted to defeat the Ace of Fairy Tail herself, to show she wasn't weak. She was unaware that her act showed that she wasn't weak to everyone else, however.

"As you wish," Gildarts took a deep breath as a white aura slowly formed around his body. The ground started shaking lightly as the aura slowly intensified around his body, causing his cape to fly up, revealing the bandages all around his chest.

"How did he gets those..." Cynthia thought. She quickly shook the thought off as she felt intense shaking in the ground beneath her. "It's now or never!" She rushed forward at Gildarts, shouting as everyone watched. She stopped in her tracks as she felt at the menacing powering coming from Gildarts; she knew he wasn't about to go all out, but he didn't need to. Cynthia stared with wide eyes before she took a few steps back heaving. "N-No...I can't fight that...I just can't...Y-You...you win, Gildarts Clive."

"Hahaha..." Gildarts let out a light laugh as he lowered his magic, his cape closing automatically. "You are certainly a strong girl," Gildarts replied. You're an excellent fighter, and I could sense you wanted to prove yourself. I hope you know that this fight has proven how strong you are as a mage. Remember this, Cynthia. It doesn't matter how weak you think you are, as long as you have the power to help and protect your nakama, that's all the power you need."

"Nakama...?" Cynthia looked up at Gildarts, her heart beating erratically from what she just felt and witnessed only twenty seconds ago.

"Your family," Gildarts replied with a gentle smile, gesturing over to the group of Fairy Tail wizards who came out to watch this fight. "You want to protect all of them right?"

Cynthia turned as Gildarts pointed, listening to his words. She nodded after he finished speaking. "Yeah...I want to protect all of them...especially Wendy. Everyone has been so nice to me, and I love Fairy Tail, and them. I would give my life to help and protect any one of them, and I wouldn't regret it after..."

Gildarts let off a soft chuckle, his smile growing. "That's excellent. Remember those words, and act on them no matter what. Family comes before anything and everything. And don't forget, any one of those mages right there would do the exact same thing for you; that's what Fairy Tail is, a big, happy family."

"Family..." The word made Cynthia frown at first, but as she thought back to the Fairy Tail mages, the word made her smile, a genuine smile.

"Cynthia!" Wendy ran from her watching spot as she approached the black haired Cynthia, panting slightly, "Do you need me to heal you?"

"If you would be so kind...I feel wiped..." Cynthia's smiled widened just slightly.

"Hai!" Wendy placed her hands near Cynthia's body as a sea green light emitted from Wendy's hands. "Cynthia, that was amazing! You're so strong!"

"Strong..." Cyntha pondered over what that word really meant after what Gildarts told her. She calm to the conclusion that being strong meant she had the power to protect the people she cared about; Fairy Tail. "Thank you, Wendy," Cynthia replied to the Sky Dragon Slayer with a soft smile, feeling her bruises and other injuries from the fight starting to heal. "Thank you for healing me too," Cynthia grinned, nodding. "I'm gonna feel all of this in the morning.


	21. Chapter 21: White Eclipse

Up in the mountains, the guild known as White Eclipse rested about halfway up one. The guild was just as lively as Fairy Tail, with the constant up and downs as well. Reve Volver was face to face with Selene, whom he was having an argument here. "Selena, if you want to fight…" Reve said, scowling slightly at the teal haired mage before him.

"No thanks, REVEY," Selene replied, smirking to herself because she knew Reve hated being called that.

"Alright, outside, let's go," Reve said, pointing to the front door.

"Nah, Nami asked me to dance with her so…" Selene turned her back to Reve, starting to walk off.

"I didn't know we had chickens in White Eclipse," Reve replied, feeling as though his comment would strike a nerve.

"You should look in the mirror, you're bound to find one there!" Selene replied as she walked off.

"You…well…yeah?! Diamonds are stupid!" Reve replied; face palming at himself for that horrible comeback. Reve Volver is one of the two S class mages in White Eclipse. He is a Guns Requip mage, who boasts often about his aim, and sniping ability. Reve is usually a rude man, an asshole to those he knows hates him, and a tad less of one to those who do not. He has a cocky attitude, like most mages do, but he is able to back up his claims quite easily. Reve is the man in charge when the master is away. Reve defeated Freed Justine during the main part of Fairy Tail and White Eclipse's rivalry, making his record against Fairy Tail 1-0.

The female Reve was bantering with was Selene Marquise, the newest member of White Eclipse. Selene wore a black high-collared shirt with silver lining and one long silver sleeve, black denim shorts and gray boots; she also has a petite figure; she arrived to the guild about a month ago. Her magic is unique, as she is a Diamond Dragon Slayer. To her guild members, she usually has a tolerable attitude towards them, though she is closer to a few of the other members such as Luke, Michio, and Aira (to an extent). When around strangers, she avoids conversation as much as possible, and she keeps to herself.

"Pfft…" Takeru was snickering at the argument between Reve and Selene, finding Reve's last comeback laughable. Takeru usually secluded himself from the other guild members, keeping to himself quite a bit. Takeru is also a third generation Shadow Dragon Slayer, who did battle with Natsu at the beginning of the rivalry between White Eclipse and Fairy Tail. Though it was a close battle, Natsu was the victorious one.

"Oh, let's just calm down and have some fun!" Nami replied, grinning widely as she was dancing to some random music. Nami was the younger twin between her and Taya. Name wore black shirts and a gray shirt, dancing around the guild with bare feet as she kept her hair tied in a ponytail. Namiyaka, or Nami for short, uses light magic; though she may not look powerful, she's actually one of the stronger mages in the guild.

"I am calm!" Reve replied, obviously a bit irritated. A few minutes later, Kuro Crane Waiston Tunundra and Zalen Castle stepped into the guild, just returning from a job.

"Hey everyone!" Kuro exclaimed, waving around the reward from the job in the air; "We're back!" The trio was also a part of the original White Eclipse guild. Kuro Crane is a Fire Make mage, Zalen Castle is a building mage, the guild's repairman as he could fix large amounts of damage to the building in under five minutes. Waiston is an Ice Dragon Slayer, always wearing the jacket his dragon, Tunundra gave him before vanishing.

"KUROOO!" Nami yelled from across the guild, waving at the red haired mage as he walked inside.

"NAMIII," Kuro waved back excitedly, rushing inside the guild.

"How'd the job go?" Nami asked.

"Great! It was easy!" Kuro said happily.

On the couch, a male with black hair, black shirt, and black pants was snoring away, oblivious to everything happening. This male is Michio Strithe; also known as the Illusion. One of the early members of the guild, but he does not talk much to anyone. Luke most of the other members, he is rather close to Luke. Michio uses Illusion magic, hence the nickname. Michio has defeated two of Fairy Tail's mages, Elfman Strauss and Freed Justine. "ZZZZZZZ…."

Lastly, of the members that was present in the guild, the Copycat himself walked in, Luke Cloud. Luke was arguably the most infamous member of White Eclipse, having clashed with Natsu, Lucy three times, Gray, Laxus, and Juvia Lockser. Luke came close to defeating Juvia and Natsu, but he defeated Gray, Laxus, and Lucy three times, and their relationship during those three battles is something nearly everyone in both guilds is aware of. "Anyone feel that shaking a few minutes ago?" Luke asked, rubbing his head.

"What shaking?" Zalen asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Kinda like a tremor?" Luke shrugged, "I guess it was just me…Where are the others?"

"Taya's out on a job," Nami replied. "Jaxon is still out training, and so is Arc."

"So much training…yeesh…I should really catch up," Luke shrugged, walking over to the fireplace. "Ah…warm." He sighed contently, enjoying the relaxation of the fire crackling…until Selene tackled him from behind and put him in a headlock. "GAH!"

"Got'cha!" Selene smirked, keeping a tight hold on the copy mage.

"Is this payback for the other day or something!?" Luke groaned, flailing around to get himself free, only it was to no avail.

"Yup," Selene merely nodded, smirking at her victory.

"Well…" Luke merely allowed his body temperature to increasing, the heat causing Selene to release him almost immediately.

"Ow!" Selene waved her hands to cool them off, yelping when Luke turned the tables to tackle and pin her down to the floor.

"I win," he said in a mocking tone.

"Oh?" Selene smirked; pulling her head back as far as she could before slamming her head into Luke's causing him to fall onto his back.

"OW…!" The next thing Luke knew he was pinned down with Selene on top of him, the Diamond mage smirking towards him.

"So cute…!" Nami whispered, giggling.

A male with black hair, blue eyes, and black pants walked out of the infirmary, purposely bumping in to Takeru with a smirk on his face. Takeru turned to the male, glaring. "You wanna go!?"

The male smirked, giving off a snicker as he walked off towards the front doors. "LET'S GO!"

"There they go…" Reve smirked lightly, "Zain and Takeru…"

"RAH!" Takeru leapt from his chair and tackled Zain out the front doors and into the snow, starting to throw wild punches at the mage. Zain let out a yelp of surprise as Takero tackled him, rolling around in the snow with Takeru. "YOU SMELL LIKE WOMAN'S PURFUME!" Takeru yelled out.

"YOU SMELL LIKE YOU CRAWLED OUT OF A CAVE AFTER SOMETHING DIED IN IT!" Zain replied, throwing wild punches at Takeru as they rolled around in the snow.

"THE ONLY THING THAT DIED AROUND ME WAS YOUR MOM WHEN I KILLED HER IN BED!" Takeru shouted, aiming to throw a fist at Zain, but before he could, the two fell down the side of the mountain.

"There they go…" Waiston chuckled, waving to the pair as they rolled down the mountain.

.

.

Several members of the Magic Council were in a meeting, discussing a recent, yet important issue. The chair of the Council, Gran Doma, was highly upset. "Tell me, have there been any recent reports about that incident nearly a month ago?"

"No," a Councilman replied, shaking his head. "Absolutely nothing, we only have the location of the laboratory the subjects came from."

"How many subjects were there again?" Doma asked, eying the male who spoke.

"There were five in total, sir! We have four, and they are currently in custody still.

"What about the fifth one?" Doma asked his gaze still on the male.

"W-We don't know…."

Another council member spoke up, "All we know is that the girl is incredibly dangerous, and she could bring the end to many lives if we don't find her soon."

"I assume there are no leads to find this girl…" Doma sighed softly, looking out into space, "Look anyway, we have to find that girl before she causes the entire country of Fiore problems."


	22. Chapter 22: The Return

Night fell upon the town of Magnolia, the night sky filled with a silver crescent moon and an array of stars twinkling in the darkness. Wendy and Cynthia were sitting on top of a hill, lying on their backs as they observed the night sky. "It's a nice night, isn't it, Cynthia?" Wendy asked, turning her head slightly to look at her friend.

"Mhm…" Cynthia nodded. "I never got to see the sky like this from where I came from…"

Wendy blinked; she just now realized that she knew absolutely nothing about Cynthia other than that she was a Dragon Slayer of some kind. "You haven't…? Where do you come from anyway…?"

Cynthia was mentally kicking herself for saying something about where she came from. However, she realized she had to tell someone, and she trusted Wendy enough to tell her. "You can't tell anyone, okay…?"

"I won't…" Wendy nodded and rolled over onto her side to look at Cynthia, who paused before speaking.

"You see…I'm a…what's it…Second Generation Dragon Slayer…" Cynthia started. Second Generation Dragon Slayers are Dragon Slayers who gained their power from a special lacrima.

"Second…Generation…just like Laxus-san…so you have a lacrima in your body…?" Wendy asked, sitting up.

"Mhm," the young girl sat up, bringing her arms around her knees as she sighed. "Second Generation Omega Fire Dragon Slayer…"

"What IS the Omega Fire Dragon…?" Wendy asked, hoping she would get an answer.

"I'm not too sure myself, to be honest…" Cynthia sighed, "Only the creator knows that much." Cynthia averted her eyes from Wendy, continuing with her explanation. "You see, all I know about Dragon Slayers is that they can eat their element. Even though it is hazy, I remember my fight with Natsu. I could eat his flames, but he couldn't eat mine; meaning that my flames must be stronger than a normal Fire Dragon or something…"

"I see…When you fought Natsu-san, you seemed to be beating him even in his Lightning Flame mode…and the same thing against Gildarts-san, you actually did damage to him…" Wendy thought back to both fights and how Cynthia's personalities changed within both of them.

"Where I came from…I heard that my power comes from my emotions," Cynthia nodded slowly, thinking back to the lab from where she escaped. "If I'm happy, sad, determined, anything, I've been told my power skyrocket…that's why they kept…" She stopped herself, images flashing in her mind as she whimpered.

"Cynthia…You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to…" Wendy frowned at the sound of her friend whimpering. "I won't make you."

Cynthia shook her head slowly before sighing heavily once again. "My power…I'm afraid of it…" She said in a low tone. "When my emotions get too much, I can't control it, and I could really hurt someone in that state…"

"You mean…like up on the mountain…?" Wendy asked once again, in a softer tone.

Cynthia nodded slowly. "If I wasn't so exhausted, it could've ended badly…"

Wendy sighed, letting the silence hang in the air for several minutes before a light bulb went off in her head. "Hey, I have an idea!" She said with a slightly excited tone.

"What is it…?" Cynthia tilted her head as she looked over at Wendy.

"If I'm nearby when you lose control…."

.

.

Lucy was walking on the railing near the river as she made her trek home, in her usual outfit in this current time, pigtails included. The men on the boat passing by warned Lucy not to fall off, but she assured them that she would be fine. "Today's been a busy day," Lucy said to herself, realizing that she was in desperate need of a shower. "Ew…that's me…Shower, and then bed…" The blonde girl nodded to herself as she hopped onto the street, humming a light tune to herself as she approached her apartment. "Oh man…rent's due soon too!" She sighed, realizing she would have to start working soon as she neared the front door. She was about to open her door when a silver arrow nearly cut through her hand, causing her to jump back. "W-What the?!" Lucy looked around to see where the arrow came from, her eyes widening when she saw a figure standing on a building nearby. The figure jumped off, landing right in front of Lucy.

"Hello there, Lucy," the figure said. Did you like my silver arrows? Gray-sama used the same thing against me during our fight awhile back!"

"M-Melody!?" Lucy took a step back, looking at the silver haired girl.

"In the flesh!" Melody grinned sadistically at Lucy, placing her hand forward as a silver magic circle appeared. "Silver Make: Lance!" A multitude of silver lances shot out from the magic circle. Lucy yelped from surprised and took a hard roll to the left, avoiding the silver lances.

"W-What are you doing!?" Lucy shouted, putting her hands on her keys in case she really needed to use them.

"Sending you a message! Silver Make: Disk!" A silver disk formed, shooting out towards Lucy. The disk was razor sharp, showing this by easily splitting through the ground as it traveled towards the Fairy Tail mage.

"Wah!" Lucy dove out of the way, and into an alleyway. "Gate of the Madien, I open thee! Virgo!" Lucy held a key out, Virgo appearing.

"Is it punishment time, princess?" Virgo asked with a nonchalant tone.

"Can you drop the punishment for a second and get her!" Lucy pointed towards Melody who just turned into the alleyway.

"Yes, Princess," Virgo drilled underground; a few seconds later, Melody yelped as she fell into a waist deep hole. "Punishment time?"

"…Nice work, Virgo! Go home, now!" Lucy forced a gate closure on Virgo as she held another key out. "Give up, or I won't hold back!"

"Silver Make: …A!" A silver magic circle appeared in front of Melody.

"…A?" Lucy just tilted her head in confusion, unsure what Melody was even trying to do. Her eyes then widened as giant silver "A" appeared in the narrow alleyway, giving the celestial mage no time to dodge as it slammed into her, causing her to drop her keys.

"Perfect!" Melody hopped out of the hole like it was nothing and waltzed over to Lucy, picking up her keys. "You don't need these, right?"

"H-Hey!" Lucy started to stand up, but Melody placed a foot on her stomach, keeping her pinned down to the ground. "L-Let me go! Give me back my keys!"

"If you said please I would've…" Melody smirked tauntingly as she started to slide the keys into her back pocket…

"Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" A fist slammed into Melody's face, causing her to yelp and stumble back, dropping the keys as she rubbed her face.

"Natsu…!" Lucy looked up, grinning to see her pink haired savior.

Natsu had his teeth bared against the silver haired mage, growling lowly, yet audibly. "You thought you would get away with something like that?" Natsu asked, glaring.

"Where did…I made sure she was…what!?" Melody frowned heavily. "NOT FAIR! Silver Make: Wall!" A silver wall appeared, separating Melody from Natsu and Lucy as she ran off. Natsu quickly punched the silver door, though it took a while.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Happy asked from above.

"I'm fine, thanks to you, Natsu…" Lucy let out a soft sigh as she reached for her keys. "What was that about…"


	23. Chapter 23: Mission Start

It was a new day over at Fairy Tail, the guild as lively as ever, especially with Gildarts's temporary return. Markarov was speaking with Erza about a particular mission he wanted her to complete. "Another dark guild?" Erza replied, eying the master carefully.

Markarov nodded slowly. "Yes, it appears they have been causing too much trouble, and a few of the other guilds have had a hard time with them. I would like you, along with a few others to go and handle them."

"Who should I take?" Erza asked, looking around the guild.

"Anyone you see fit," Markarov replied as he took a sip of his beer.

"Alright…" Erza nodded, and then raised her voice to get everyone's attention. "EVERYONE." Everything stopped as everyone looked over in Erza's direction. "Good. Now, I've gotten a report of a group of dark mages causing other guilds trouble, and the Magic Council has a report of someone they are hunting down as well. They don't know anything about the girl, but it's likely she could be with these dark mages. Now, I'm going to take a few of you to help me hunt them down." After she finished speaking, the guild erupted into a light murmur as they talked about who might be taken.

"TAKE ME!" Natsu raised his hand high. Actually, he stood on a table and raised his hand, hopping up and down.

"I've already made my decision on who to take," Erza replied. "Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Cynthia, Laki, Gajeel, and Elfman," She went down her list one by one, nodding at each name that was spoke.

The purple haired wood-make mage poked her head up after hearing her name called, "M-Me?"

"Yes, you," Erza replied, looking at Laki.

Laki felt surprised; she usually felt like she was a background character, so a chance to go on a mission with those who usually do more than her felt great. "That's great!"

"As a man I will get the job done!" Elfman grinned, flexing one of his muscles in a manly way.

"Good luck, Elf-niichan!" Lisanna grinned, clapping for her older sibling.

"She picked me…?" Cynthia blinked a few times in confusion and surprise.

"Even Erza's taken notice of you!" Wendy replied. "Plus, if I'll be right there if you lose control."

"Right…" Cynthia nodded slowly.

"The exceed squad is coming too!" Happy nodded, looking over at Carla with hearts in his eyes.

"Gihehe, this shouldn't be too hard," Gajeel said, standing up from the chair he was sitting in. "When do we move out?"

"Right now," Erza said. "There have been reports in the nearby forest about suspicious mages roaming around. I hope you all are ready."

"I'm fired up!" Natsu grinned, letting flames surround his body. With that, the group Erza selected headed out of the guild doors. Juvia was watching the entire thing, gritting her teeth from annoyance.

"Erza-san picked Gray-sama…but not Juvia…Erza-san must want Gray-sama all to herself! Love rival…" Juvia did the only thing that seemed rational at that point. She slowly crept out of the guild, and followed behind the group, keeping her attention on Gray.

.

.

Reve stood on the balcony of White Eclipse, looking down at all the members present. "Alright, listen up. Calium has given me orders to select a squad to head out and investigate a group of dark mages causing too much trouble around Fiore.

"Dark mages? Again?" Luke sighed, rubbing his head.

"Shut up and listen, Cloud," Reve said towards Luke. "Anyway, I would do this alone, but Calium is forcing me to take some of you guys, so I'll take the few that annoy me the least, you guys ready?"

"Do we really have a choice?" Michio snorted.

"Funny, because you're on the list, Michio," Reve smirked.

"Oh…joy…" Michio rolled his eyes as he stood off to the side.

"Heh. Now then, the rest of you; Selena, Zalen, Aira, Luke, Takeru…and Taya. You guys are with me." Reve continued, watching as they walked off to the side, smirking as he mentioned the last name.

"Ah man…" Cygnus grunted, as he wasn't picked.

"Are you serious, cowboy?" Taya asked, crossing her arms as she walked over to the group.

"Oh, don't worry," Reve hopped from the balcony, landing on his feet with a smirk, "You'll be fine as long as you stick with me, hehe."

"That's one way to hit on a girl…" Aira mumbled to herself.

"When do we get moving?" Zalen asked, cleaning his glasses.

"Right now," Reve replied, starting his way down the mountain trail into the nearby forest. "Heard word that some mages were roaming around in the forest area, so it would be wise to start there."

"Well, this should be fun," Taya sighed, walking behind Reve.

"I say we split up when we get there…" Luke whispered.

"I won't need to work with anyone," Takeru replied, looking forward.

"Hm, let's just make it quick. I dislike people…" Michio replied.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Luke asked, chuckling softly.


	24. Chapter 24: Body Count: One

Team Fairy Tail entered the forest slowly taking in their surroundings. "This place is huge," Cynthia said aloud.

"Seems like a shady enough place for foul villains to do their deeds," Laki nodded, unable to help give a side-glance at Gajeel.

"What did I do?!" Gajeel huffed, looking away from the wood mage, "Geez, you destroy a guild one time…"

"Focus," Erza demanded, looking around the forest. "We'll cover more ground if we split up, but stay on guard, we don't know what these mages are capable of.

"Should we make our own teams?" Lucy asked.

"Either that or I decide for you," Erza replied in a stern tone.

"Y-Yeesh! I uh…I'll go with Natsu and Happy!" Lucy nodded, walking over to the two.

"Cynthia, Carla, and I could be a team!" Wendy nodded happily, dragging Cynthia over next to her.

"I don't need to work with any of you, Lily come on," Gajeel said, walking off into a random area of the forest with Patherlily flying on his side.

"Rude," Laki huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Would you go keep an eye on him?" Erza asked.

"I can't promise anything," Laki shrugged, heading in the general direction she saw Gajeel and Patherlily walk.

"That leaves Elfman and Gray," Erza turned to face them, only to see that Elfman was gone. "Where did…"

"He said something about being a man and ran off in…uh…some direction," Cynthia replied.

"You're joking, right?" Erza groaned. "I'll go find him, the rest of you should be careful.

"Don't worry; I'll pound any mage who dares to attack us!" Natsu grinned, grabbing Lucy's hand and ran off in a direction. While Erza, Wendy's group, and Gray split apart as well. Juvia was watching Gray, following him behind the trees silently.

"Juvia should be Gray-sama's partner, but Erza-san tried to keep him away from her…" Juvia huffed under her breath and continued following her beloved ice make mage, unbeknownst to him.

.

.

On the other side of the forest, Team White Eclipse walked in, Reve leading the way with a smirk. "Alright, so how do you guys want to do this? We can either split up, or we can go together?"

"I'm going alone," Takeru said almost immediately, breaking off from the group as he headed south.

"Well…that answers that…" Luke said, rubbing the back of his head. "So, Michio, Selene, Aira, anyone wanna team up with me?"

"Psh, normally I would but…" Michio looked around, sensing a familiar presence. "I sense someone…heh…" Michio ran off east.

"Yeesh, does no one want to team up?" Luke let out a sigh as he looked towards Aira and Selene. "Lemme guess." Aira nodded quickly, then dragged Selene away, much to her discomfort.

"Wah!" Selene cried as Aira dragged her off west.

"Well I guess that leaves…" Luke turned to Taya, Zalen, and Reve…who weren't even there anymore. "Fun…" Luke sighed, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked off in a random direction.

.

.

Laki wandered around the forest, looking for any sign of the Iron Dragon Slayer. She sighed, realizing that she probably wasn't going to be finding Gajeel or his exceed any time soon. "Just my luck," She groaned, leaning against a tree. "I would get stuck with the job nobody wants." She took a seat, using the time to rest her feet. The next thing she knew, a silver fist struck the part of the tree just above her, causing the entire tree to collapse. Luckily, the wood make mage rolled out of the way just in time. "Who was that!?"

"Drat, I missed!" Melody walked out from behind a tree. "Oh, you're one of those Fairy Tail mages…you're not Gray-sama!" Melody huffed, pouting as she crossed her arms. "I KNOW HE'S HERE WHERE IS HE!?"

"I don't know!" Laki stood up, dusting herself off as she glared at Melody. "You're one of those Dark mages around here, aren't you?"

"Maybe I am," Melody gave a sadistic smirk before pointing a hand forward, a silver magic circle appearing, "Of course, the others wouldn't be too happy with me if I let you live after seeing me so…Silver Make: Lance!" Silver lances shot out from the magic circle towards Laki, who quickly placed her fist into her palm.

"Wood Make: Wall!" A wall of wood shot up from the ground, however it proved useless against the silver lances as they all easily destroyed the wall, and made direct contact with Laki, sending her rolling across the ground. "Gah! W-What was that!?"

"My silver is stronger than Ice, so it's obviously stronger than your stupid wood…" Melody scoffed, giggling slightly.

"Oh yeah? Don't underestimate a Fairy Tail wizard! Wood Make: Violent Approach!" Laki created a wooden spike ball that shot towards Melody at an alarming rate.

"Silver Make: Wall!" A silver wall appeared, Laki's attack destroyed once it made contact with the wall.

"W-What!?" Laki's eyes widened once more, as she stumbled back; she had a feeling she wasn't going to be able to win this battle.

"Cute," Melody grinned sadistically as she jumped into the air. "Silver Make: Hammer!" A giant silver hammer appeared in Melody's hands as she brought it down on Laki, a shockwave echoing throughout the forest as the attack landed.


	25. Chapter 25: Team Progress

The loud shockwave echoed throughout the forest area, bringing everyone to a halt. "What was that?!" Aira asked as she continued dragging Selene against her will.

"I don't know, but would you LET GO OF ME ALREADY!?" Selene finally pulled her hand out of Aira's grip, rubbing her wrist. "Geez…"

"Oh, come on, we'll make a great team!" Aira said joyfully, nodding.

"Yeah, yeah; just be careful, we don't know what these mages can do…but from the sounds of it, it seems like someone was just taken down…" Selene said quietly.

"Do you think someone else is in the forest as well?" Aira asked.

"Maybe…let's just keep going…" Selene started to lead the way as Aira followed just slightly behind her.

.

.

Melody simply walked away from Laki's unconscious and bruised body, pulling out a spherical lacrima from her pocket, using it to contact a male with red spikey hair, and red eyes. "One Fairy idiot is down~" she said in a singsong voice humming to herself.

"Excellent," the male said, grinning. "Everyone is stationed where they should be, yes?" The male asked, now eying Melody seriously.

"Yes sir!" Melody replied with a large grin. "Veronica's over in the west, uh…I dunno which way Brent and his pet went…or Elisa….ahehe…

The male face palmed, groaning, "You can't be serious! I thought you said they were in position!"

"THEY ARE! I swear, Mack!" Melody flailed her arms around.

"Hrm…fine…take out anyone else who dares to intrude…" Mack cut the connection after.

"Hmph," Melody mocked Mack's last words as she walked down deeper into the forest.

.

.

"What was that shaking…?" Natsu asked as he looked around.

"Probably from Lucy's jogging…" Happy commented.

"WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT!?" Lucy shouted, obviously annoyed, and angered by the cat.

"But Lucy!" Happy snickered, placing his paws over his mouth to prevent laughter.

"Hm…Where is someone! I wanna fight!" Natsu kicked a rocked, starting to get bored. "I don't want the others to get all the fun!"

"Don't worry, Natsu!" Lucy nodded, giving a reassuring smile, "I'm sure we'll find someone and beat them easily!"

"Yeah!" Natsu raised a fist in agreement, and then sniffed out something familiar in the air. "What the…"

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Happy asked, looking up at the Dragon Slayer with a confused expression.

"I smell something…familiar…" Natsu followed the scent, casing Lucy and Happy to follow behind him, both wondering what Natsu smelled and where it was.

.

.

Zalen groaned softly, listening to Taya and Reve argue over directions. "I told you we should go this way!" Reve shouted, pointing north. "There's bound to be someone there, and you're just too stupid to realize it!"

"Oh, I'm the stupid one now?" Taya replied, pointing south, the opposite direction Reve was pointing. "And how would you know someone isn't in that direction?" Taya asked, scowling at the guns mage.

"Psh, have I ever been wrong?" Reve asked with a smirk.

"Well…" Zalen opened his mouth to start talking.

"No one asked you, Zalen," Reve said quickly to shut Zalen up.

.

.

Carla, Cynthia, and Wendy slowly made their way through a thin area of the forest, not having to worry about many tree branches due to the thinness of the area. Carla examined the area carefully; for some reason, it seemed as though she saw this area before. In a dream? A vision? She couldn't pinpoint what, but she kept flying beside Wendy anyway, occasionally glancing at Cynthia, whom she didn't completely trust yet. "Do you sense anything?" Carla asked to Wendy.

"No, nothing yet…it's quiet…" Wendy replied, keeping her senses focused on the surroundings.

"Dark mages sure aren't people to mess with, huh…?" Cynthia said aloud, mostly talking to herself.

"No way; they're really dangerous…" Wendy replied, shaking her head.

.

.

Luke found himself on some surprisingly high ground for a forest. He looked around, knowing that he was lost. "I hate this…" He groaned, walking on high ground. He was never good with directions, so being lost in the forest aggravated him to no end; all he could do was walk around and hope he came across a dark mage, or that a dark mage came across him. All was going well until he tripped over a tree root, and started rolling down the hill. "WHY MEEEEE?!"

.

.

Gajeel and Patherlily made their way through the deep part of the forest, eventually coming across a small clearing. The shockwave from earlier didn't really phase him at all, he figured one of the Fairy Tail members managed to take out a dark mage. "Tch, looks like I gotta step up my game," Gajeel said aloud, mostly talking to himself as he and Patherlily stood in the middle of the clearing.

"It appears you will be able to do so soon, Gajeel," Lily said, taking a grip on his sword.

"Giehe…" Without a word, Gajeel set his sights on a tree. He then pointed his arm forward, causing it to morph into an iron pole and crash into the tree, easily breaking it. He noticed a figure hopping immediately to the next tree over, so he simply moved his extended arm over, crashing into the tree, causing that one to fall over. "Timber!" A female rolled in front of Gajeel. She appeared to be middle aged, brown curly hair that reached her lower back, red eyes, sleeveless yellow shirt, brown pants, and sandals. "There you are…" Gajeel said, retracting his arm, a smirk appearing on his face. "Giehehe…"

"Elisa, Earth Mage," The female said, dusting herself off. "Prepare to die, Fairy Tail scum."


	26. Chapter 26: Three Way

Elfman ran through the forest, giving himself an inspirational speech about how he was going to get the job done like a true man. Though he was starting to have doubts as he realized he abandon the others without much of a word, and he wasn't prepared to face Erza's wrath for leaving like that. "I will accept my punishment like a man!" He said to himself, grinning and nodding as he hopped over tree roots that attempted to trip him. He continued running for a few minutes before silver arrows nearly impaled his feet, so he jumped back, skidding back across the dirt. "T-That wasn't manly!" Elfman looked around to see where the attacker was, but he was unable to see anything. He only heard the faint giggling of a female from above. "Show yourself!" Elfman demanded, activating his takeover spell, Beast Arm Iron Bull, on his arm.

"Oh, fine, if you insist," from the trees, Melody leapt down, dusting her pants off. "Hi!"

"Who are you?!" Elfman asked, readying himself.

"Oh, just your normal day to day dark mage bent on getting revenge," Melody, replied nonchalantly. She then took notice of Elfman's Fairy Tail mark on his neck, smirking sadistically once again. "You're a brat from Fairy Tail, aren't you?"

"Brat!?" Elfman's eye twitched at the derogatory term. "I am the manliest man you will ever meet! And Fairy Tail will take both you and your operation down!"

"Pssh…WAIT!" Melody stuck her hands out. "Is Gray-sama here!?"

"You sound just like…" Elfman shook his head. "Yeah, he's here, but your opponent is me!" Elfman dashed forward, pulling his Iron Bull back. "MAN!" He started to throw his fist forward, but something happened. Someone blindsided ELFMAN and sent him rolling across the ground. "W-Who the!?"

"Who's that guy?!" Melody asked, her eyes widening.

"The illusion does not fade away until it is beaten. I am not beaten; I am the illusion that will never fade away. My name is Michio, and I am the illusion," Michio said calmly, completely disregarding the fact Elfman was practically seething with anger while on the ground. "White Eclipse has come to take you and your operation down, so I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted."

"Oh, that's cute…" Melody giggled mockingly towards both Michio and Elfman. "You two are from those rivaling guilds. I can't tell if this was done on purpose or not. Oh well, I'll take you both down anyway!"

"Hmph," Michio ran forward, only to be shoulder tackled by Elfman.

"This is mine!" Elfman then shifted his attention to the Silver Make mage, pulling his arm back as he shouted.

"Silver Make: Wall!" A silver wall appeared in front of Melody just in time to block Elfman's Iron Bull arm. The silver wall cracked slightly, but otherwise it held firm. Just as the wall dispersed, another silver magic circle appeared in front of Melody's hand. "Silver Make: Pole!" A pole extended from the magic circle, slamming into Elfman's chest as it forced him into a tree, quickly dispersing after. "Hehe!"

"Tch," Michio recovered from the shoulder tackle to see Elfman slammed into the tree; he used this time to create several illusions of himself as he dashed towards Melody.

"What?" Melody noticed that the illusions of Michio, and Michio himself fought with a vulgate hand-to-hand style. She quickly took note that Michio was trying not to give Melody any time for a comeback. "I see…Silver Make: Dome!" As the illusions attempted to dog pile Melody, a silver dome appeared around her, the illusions bouncing off as they rolled across the ground.

"Tch! Don't hide!" Michio snarled; keeping his illusions and himself circled around the dome, waiting for it to vanish like the other silver creations.

"I'm not hiding!" Melody smirked from within her dome, placing her hands on the ground as several silver magic circles appeared under Michio and his illusions. "Silver Make: Pillar!" Several silver pillars shot up from the magic circles, all of them making contact with Michio and his illusions as he skidded back across the dirt, coming to a full stop.

"Tch…" He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, spitting out some blood before turning back to the dome. "Alright, let's try this…" Michio ran forward, only for Elfman to backhand Michio into a tree, now in his Beast Soul Takeover.

"Oh, this is rich!" Melody grinned as she saw Elfman attack Michio. "Silver Make: Lance!" Several Silver lances shot out of a magic circle towards the fighting pair, making direct contact with them and knocking them back. Elfman didn't stay down at all, instead he charged forward, aiming a punch at Melody's petite figure. "Nope!" Melody leapt over the punch, landing on Elfman's arm. What Melody didn't expect was Michio jumping up on Elfman, punching him in the spine, causing Elfman to fall over and Melody to fall back. Elfman hit the floor, groaning in a beastly voice while Michio used this time to axe kick Melody into the ground, landing the first hit anyone managed against her. "Oof!"

"Got you," Michio smirked. An opening has been made, and that's all he needed. Michio created another illusion of himself to jump Melody, but Elfman grabbed both him and the illusion and banged their heads together, throwing them aside. The impact caused the illusion to fade and left Michio dazed as he leaned against a tree. "Dammit…!"

"Take this!" Elfman threw yet another punch, but Melody ducked, then did a baseball slide under Elfman, now between Michio and Elfman. Michio quickly stood up dashing towards Melody as Elfman dashed as well. They both threw punches at the girl simultaneously, but Melody jumped up, upside down, pointing her hands out at Michio and Elfman as their punches flew by her head, silver magic circles appearing. "Silver Make: Spear." Silver spears shot out from the magic circles, impaling Michio and Elfman in the chest, causing Elfman's takeover spell to wear off as he hit the ground, unconscious with a chest wound, and Michio to hit the ground, unconscious as well. Melody caught herself on her hands and merely got back onto her feet, dusting herself off. "Pssh, that's two more," she said to herself, stepping over the two bodies as she walked off into a different direction. "I need to find my Gray-sama."


	27. Chapter 27: Battle Ready

Gajeel cracked his knuckles, and then rolled his neck around until it popped. "Giehe, now I'm ready," he said with a smirk, sliding into a fighting stance. He nodded to Lily onto to assist if absolutely needed. He was going against a dark mage, so he was not going to hold back. "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna fight?"

"Hmph, Fairy Tail scum…" Elisa replied as she brought her hands up as the ground started to rumble. This only caused Gajeel to smirk, as he could tell he got a strong opponent, hopefully stronger than any opponent Natsu could get so he could rub the face he won in his face; Elisa brought her arms forward, causing to large chunks of rocks to manifest from thin air, then shot them forward at Gajeel.

"Giheh, rocks?" Gajeel jumped into the air, easily avoiding the rocks coming his way, then turned his arm into an iron pole and launched it at Elisa, who merely jumped back due to the time she had to dodge it. "Fast one, aren't ya?" Gajeel smirked wider, landing on the ground, immediately sprinting towards the earth mage. He stopped just before he reached her, ducking low as he used a sweep kick, knocking Elisa's legs from under her, then pointed his arm as she fell, his arm morphing into an iron pole and slammed into Elisa's stomach, causing her to cough and gasp for air as she slammed into the tree.

"H-Hey! Not fair!" Elisa squirmed as she felt the iron pole press against her stomach, panicking too much to do anything. Gajeel lowered his head in disappointment.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" He sighed, looking over at Lily. "I would get the weakest of the bunch, wouldn't I…?"

"Well…at least you got a fight?" Lily said with a little enthusiasm.

Elisa smirked; she was just buying time as a magic circle formed under Gajeel's feet. "Ground Dasher!" The magic circle released a large series of stalagmites that created a cloud of smoke as Gajeel retracted his arm, only his grunts of pain were heard. "Got'cha, weakling."

As the smoke cleared, Gajeel was seen in his metallic scales, smirking widely. "That actually kinda hurt, you old hag," Gajeel's smirk widened, "Giehehe. Perhaps I did get lucky."

.

.

Selene and Aira were carefully making their way forward. Aira was attempting to strike up a conversation, but every time Selene just gave short replies, making the conversations end quickly. Aira sighed, quietly following Selene as she gave up on a conversation attempt. Selene stuck her nose into the air. "What…is that smell…?!" She covered her nose, gagging. "It reeks!"

"Maybe we're near something disgusting?" Aira suggested, catching a faint whiff of whatever Selene was smelling, "Oh gross…"

A few more seconds passed before Selene suddenly tackled Aira down, shouting, "GET DOWN!" A thick ball of poison flew over the girls heads and hit the ground, causing a purple explosion.

"W-What was that!?" Aira sat up, rubbing her head.

"Over there…" Selene stood up, pointing over to the mage floating off the ground, her blonde hair in a ponytail as she wore a robe to cover the rest of her clothing.

"Hi, sweeties," Veronica said with a smug grin. "How does my poison smell?"

"It reeks…" Selene replied, pinching her nose to block out the smell. "You must be one of those dark mages we heard about…"

"Perhaps," Veronica replied, smirking. She then looked over at Aira, realizing she wasn't just a run of the mill mage. "You…I don't want you healing anyone…" Veronica took her left arm and raised it, lifting the distant Aira into the air.

"H-Hey! Lemme go!" Aira attempted to break free from whatever was holding, her, but the attempt was in vain as she couldn't move.

"Let her go!" Selene ran forward towards Veronica, diamonds forming around her fist.

"Too late," Veronica simply threw her arm to the side, sending Aira down a steep hill just as Selene's diamond punch made contact with her, causing Veronica to stumble back. "Ouch…Diamonds, huh?" The blonde-haired woman smirked before adapting a stance. "You think silly diamonds can defend against me?"

"We'll see, won't we?" Selene glared, making a mental note to head down the hill later to see if Aira was okay. Selene then puffed her cheeks out, throwing her head forward, "Diamond Dragon's Roar!" When she opened her mouth, a vortex of tiny shard like diamonds flew towards Veronica.

"Pfft, I've learned how to deal with you Dragon Slayers after facing that last one," Veronica placed her hands forward, creating a telekinetic force that caused the diamond roar to split left and right as Veronica stood in the middle, leaving her unharmed.

"What the?!" Selene's eyes widened slightly at how Veronica diverted her roar. "How did you!?"

"Oh dear, I have two magic; poison and telekinesis. Both of them quite deadly," Veronica gave a smirk as she extended her hand, an unseen force pushing Selene lifting Selene off the ground, then slamming her into the ground once again, this process repeating for several minutes, causing a massive dust cloud to form. "That was fun," As the dust cleared, Selene hunched over, her entire body covered in a diamond shield. "Oh?"

"I hope you didn't think it would be that easy…" Selene said through a few pants.

"Oh, I wasn't hoping that at all. In fact, the fun is only just beginning."

.

.

Gajeel slid back across the ground, his arms in an X after defending from a giant fist of rock. "Lily!"

"Finally!" Lily transformed into his battle state, his size and muscles bulking up as he flew towards Elisa, drawing his tiny sword which now increased in size; Lily then let out a shout as she swung the large sword at Elisa, but she brought up a wall of Earth to protect herself from the slash.

"Excellent," Gajeel smirked to himself, using the opening Lily made to morph is arm into a razor sharp saw like sword. "Iron Dragon's Sword," Gajeel ran forward, after speaking these words. Lily smirked, jumping off to the side just as Gajeel neared. "Got'cha!" Gajeel slashed his sword diagonally, making a deep wound in Elisa's chest, causing her eyes to roll into the back of her head as she fell back. "Don't get back up either," Gajeel said, letting his iron scales faded to show his bruised and battered body. "Tough one…"


	28. Chapter 28: Juvia vs Melody

Selene jumped back, placing her hands out as gray magic circle appeared, "Diamond Cannon!" Several diamond spikes shot out from the magic circle and quickly made their way to Veronica without delay..

"Pft!" Veronica snorted before leaping into the air over the spikes, aiming a thick ball of poison in Selene's direction. The Diamond Dragon Slayer placed an arm forward, it morphing into a diamond shield to take the ball of poison.

"Ha!" Selene smirked, then winced as the poison started to eat through her diamond shield, a sizzling sound emitting from the two meeting. "Ah!" She shook the poison off, panting. "Geez…!"

"Watch out, it's powerful…" Veronica snorted, and then rushed towards Selene, throwing punches at the diamond-coated girl. Under normal circumstances the diamonds would provide an excellent defense against normal attacks, this time, however was not the case. Veronica used her telekinesis to open up holes in Selene's diamond coat, using the opening to land a hit wherever she wanted. Veronica was not getting rid of the diamonds, but she was merely exploiting them, which did not make Selene very happy.

"Grr…" Selene growled lowly, morphing her left arm into a diamond sword, swinging it wildly at the dark mage in attempt to get some space. Her plan worked somewhat as Veronica took a step back with a few cuts on her clothes, which only angered her.

"That's it…" Veronica formed a very thick and dangerous ball of poison, using her telekinesis to pull Selene closer against her will, pulling ball of poison back. "I'm done with you!" Veronica threw her arm forward, opening a hole in Selene's diamonds as the hole of poison made direct contact with her stomach, causing a large purple explosion.

.

.

Gray continued his trek through the forest; he heard the shockwave from earlier, and the sound of an explosion from afar. However, he was not close enough to either location to check out what happened. All he could do was walk, and that is exactly what he did. He groaned softly as he realized he was lost, and was making no progress. "Great…I'm lost…" He sighed, turning around, jumping at the sight of Melody. "W-WHAT THE!?"

"HIIIIIIII!" Melody had hearts in her eyes at the sight of Gray, grinning widely. "I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

"I thought you got shot!?" Gray shouted, backing up.

"I did! By that stupid gunslinger! But he's not here right now, and it's just me and you!" Melody calmly placed her fist into her palm, a silver magic circle appearing. "Silver Make:.."

"Water Slicer!" A dense, yet powerful wave of high-pressurized water nearly struck Melody, but she jumped back, avoiding the attack.

"Who did that!?" Melody asked, looking around.

Juvia stepped out from behind some trees with a glare, pointing her arm forward, "No one will bring harm to Gray-sama while Juvia is around."

"And who are you?!" Melody glared at the water mage who was standing protectively in front of Gray.

"Juvia?! What are you doing here!? You know what, never mind," Gray said, shaking his head.

"Juvia will handle this…thing, Gray-sama," Juvia said, keeping her eyes locked onto Melody's.

"Gray-sama is MINE," Melody replied, her eyes piercing right into Juvia's; and just like that, everything stopped. Juvia's eyes widened, her pupils shrunk as she turned her head, her hair shadowing over her left eye, while her right one was twitching. "Love…Rival…"

"…" Gray slowly backed away from Juvia and Melody, realizing this wasn't going to be a pretty fight at all.

"Gray-sama is Juvia's, and Juvia's alone!" Juvia clenched her fist, miniature cyclones of water forming around her fist. "Juvia won't let a tacky girl such as Melody to take Gray-sama away from Juvia!"

"Pfft! That's cute!" Melody pointed her hand forward, a silver magic circle appearing, "Silver Make: Lance!" A silver magic circle appeared, shooting out silver lances towards Juvia. Much to Melody's surprise, the lances phased through Juvia's body, having no effect. "What the…?"

"Juvia's body is made of water! Melody cannot defeat Juvia, and Juvia won't lose Gray-sama's affection!" Juvia held her hands to her sides as small cyclones of water appeared around her fist. Juvia then ran towards the Silver Make mage, landing a series of water infused punches that caused Melody to step back.

"Gah!" Melody shook the hit off, and then leapt into the air, raising her hands above her head. "Silver Make: Hammer!" A silver hammer appeared in Melody's hands and she brought it down on Juvia, only for it to phase through her body as it hit the ground.

"Melody's silly tricks won't work on Juvia," Juvia said with a cold expression, her glare not leaving her face. However, a questioning look appeared on Juvia's face as she noticed her love rival giggling.

"That's cute, Juvia thinks she's immune to my attacks…" Melody smirked as a surge of electricity went through the hammer and into Juvia's body, causing her to yelp out in pain as she took a step back.

"W-What? How did Melody…" Juvia took a few pants to regain herself, but she had no time as Melody swung the electrified silver hammer sideways at Juvia, sending the water mage through a tree.

"Electric magic too, deary," Melody replied as the silver hammer faded.

Juvia sat up, wincing in pain. "Juvia won't lose…" Juvia then stood up, extending her hands as dense, sharp water shot out from them. "Water Slicer!"

"Silver Make: Wall!" Another silver magic circle appeared and a silver wall shot out from the ground. Even though it provided a good defense, Juvia's attack broke through the wall, causing Melody to skid back across the ground. "You little…" Melody regained her composure as she stuck placed her hands forward, a yellow magic circle appearing. "Thundershock!" A bolt of lightning shot out from Melody's hands and towards Juvia, who barely rolled out of the wall to avoid the attack, but her leg was hit and she let out a groan of pain.

"Ah!" Juvia didn't allow her leg injury to slow her down as she stuck her hand out, a dense ball of water appearing around Melody as it trapped her, Juvia's anger causing the water to heat up quickly. "Water Lock! Melody can drown…" Juvia then gave an innocent, cheerful smile as she watched Melody struggle for air and from the scalding water.

"GURGLE!" A yellow magic circle appeared high in the sky as a thunderbolt struck Juvia from above, causing Juvia to lose focus on the Water Lock, and scream from pain. When thunderbolt faded, Juvia was on her knees, panting as sparks danced wildly around her body from the attack, smoke also flying from her body. "Silver Make: Pillar!" A silver magic circle appeared under Juvia's body and an electric coated silver pillar shot up from the magic circle, the electricity dealing damage to Juvia as she flew into the air, letting off another yelp.

"J-Juvia won't lose…!" Juvia quickly shifted her body around, aiming legs at Melody. "Here Juvia comes!" Juvia preformed a dropkick on the unsuspecting Melody, her feet landing right on Melody's chest, causing Melody to stumble back.

"Alright…I'm done playing around…!" Melody grabbed her shirt, and threw it off, revealing her bra.

"ONLY GRAY-SAMA DOES THAT! MELODY'S A COPY CAT! …And stripping does not work well with Melody," Juvia giggled at her last comment.

"Alright you…Gray-sama is mine!" Melody pulled her hand back, a silver magic circle appearing once again. "Silver Make: Arrows!" Several silver arrows coated in electricity flew towards Juvia. Juvia dodged the first two arrows, but the other struck her in the arm, exploding into a surge of electrical energy that flew through Juvia's body, causing her to groan in pain.

"Agh!" Juvia pulled her other arm back, "Water Cane!" Juvia's arm extended forward into a whip of water and she swung her arm wildly at Melody, attempting to land a hit. Melody was agile, however, dodging each of each of Juvia's strikes with relative ease before lunging forward with her hand out, another yellow magic circle appearing as she placed her hand on Juvia's chest. "Bye," With a sadistic smirk, a large bolt of electricity shot from Melody's hand and blew Juvia threw several tress. Juvia lost her hat, her coat was ruined, and her body covered in bruises and cuts. Luckily, for Juvia, she landed a few feet from a stream. It was not a lot of water, but she could use it to her advantage. Melody slowly walked over to the downed Juvia, smirking. "Any last words, "Love Rival?"

Juvia's eyes twitched at the word. She was never called a love rival in such a tone before, and it set something off. She realized that this woman would truly try to take Gray away from her, causing something inside of her to snap once again. Juvia stood up, extending her arms forward. "Water Beam!" A high-pressurized beam of water shot out from her hands, striking Melody right her stomach, causing the girl to hit the tree. "NO one will take Gray-sama away from Juvia!"

"Gray-sama is mine, you wench!" Melody rubbed her stomach, looking down to see the large bruise Juvia's attack left. "Silver Make: Claw!" A large claw shot out from the magic circle, once again coated in electricity as it slashed Juvia's midsection. Juvia's water body easily negated the attack, as she only took very little damage from the electricity. But Melody left the claw where Juvia's midsection was, smirking. "Got you." The claw then let off a powerful discharge of electricity, shocking Juvia's aquatic body as it manifested back into her physical form, the claw now pulling back from her midsection, leaving a deep wound as it did so, causing Juvia to fall to her knees once again, panting heavily.

"Juvia…won't…lose…for Gray-sama…" Juvia stood up slowly, the water from the stream circling around her hands, "Water Punch!" Juvia rushed forward towards Melody once more, her latent power showing as she landed devastating punches all over Melody's body, causing the silver haired girl to yelp in pain from every punch thrown, eventually falling onto her back, writhing in pain.

"Water Nebula!" Juvia would finish this battle here, two large columns of water forming, eventually merging into one as the attack slammed into Melody, creating a large, watery explosion. When the water calmed down, Melody more or less drowned from Juvia's final attack, bringing a smile to the water mage's face. "Juvia…won…" Juvia's eyes closed as her body went limp, causing her to pass out. However, Gray caught her just before she hit the ground, smirking slightly.

"I knew you could do it, Juvia…"


	29. Chapter 29: A Boy and His Pet

A small explosion came from the deep end of the forest. "Natsu!" Lucy yelled out to the fighting Dragon Slayer. Natsu was on the trees, hopping from branch to branch as multiple Shadow Dragon Roars fired off at him in rapid succession. Natsu placed his hands on the bottom of the branch, swinging off like a monkey as he aimed a flaming fist at his opponent, Takeru. Takeru pulled his own fist back, shadows covering it as he swung it at Natsu's, the two meeting and causing a loud shockwave to boom throughout the area. Both Dragon Slayers jumped back, glaring at each other. "Natsu!" Lucy repeated. "We don't have time for this!"

"I can't help it if he wants another beat down!" Natsu roared, charging Takeru recklessly once again, aiming a combination of punches and kicks. Takeru went on the offensive as well, aiming punches and kicks at Natsu. Both fighters' hits were getting through as they hit each other, causing a grunt of pain. They then jumped back, panting slightly.

"Hmph!" Takeru morphed into a shadow, traveling towards Natsu in a zig zag pattern to confuse him, which worked. Natsu's eyes could not keep up, and he was left open as Takeru appeared behind him aiming a high kick to Natsu's head, causing the Fire Dragon Slayer to tumble forward before rolling onto his feet, glaring.

"Natsu, calm down!" Happy flailed his arms around. "We need to get looking for those dark mages!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of them!" Natsu growled, facing Takeru.

"You're one to talk," Takeru replied, panting just slightly from the fight.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Natsu replied, flames instantly covering his body.

"Uggggh…" Lucy brought a hand to her forehead as she groaned. "I can't believe we'd run into a White Eclipse member here of all places…"

"Oooh! Dragon Slayers!" A male with brown shaggy hair and a red trench coat walked forward between Takeru and Natsu. "I love fighting Dragon Slayers!"

"Who are you?" Takeru asked, using his shadows to cover any open wounds.

"I'm Brent, one of those mages I bet you're looking for!" Brent replied with a smirk. "And I can't believe I came across Dragon Slayers. My lucky day!"

"He's mine!" Natsu and Takeru shouted in unison, pulling their fist back and swung it forward, however, Brent stuck his hands out, catching both of their fist.

"This'll be fun!" Brent then tossed Natsu and Takeru down a hill, and then jumped down after them.

"Natsu!" Happy quickly spread his wings and flew down the cliff after them.

"Natsu, Happy, wait up!" Lucy was about to slide down the hill when she heard an audible growling sound behind her, causing her to turn around slowly. To her surprise, a giant black wolf was staring her down, licking its lips. "WAAAAH!" Lucy ran off to the left, distancing herself from the large wolf. "WHAT IS THAT THING!?" Lucy shook her head, dismissing the thought as she pulled out a key. "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!" A bright gold magic circle appeared and Lucy's most trusted spirit appeared, Loke.

"Hey there, Lucy," Loke grinned at his owner, then turned at the giant wolf. "A wolf vs. a lion? Should be interesting." Loke said as he adjusted his sleeves, smirking. "These dark mages have all kinda pets, don't they?"

Natsu and Takeru were throwing punches at Brent, who was blocking them with relative ease. Natsu then threw a kick to his side, which Brent caught after it connected, giving a smirk. Takeru then rolled forward with a punch to Brent's face, causing him to stumble back and rub his face, grunting. Natsu charged forward once again with a flaming fist pulled back, only to be stomped by Brent's large foot, causing the male to let out a laugh. "HA!" An iron pole rammed into Brent's stomach, causing him to stumble back. "Gah!"

Natsu hopped up, looking at Gajeel who was smirking from the sidelines. "I HAD THAT!"

"No you didn't," Gajeel replied quickly as Patherlily and Happy flew in.

"Oh, more of you…great…" Takeru rolled his eyes as he regained his composure.

Loke rushed forward towards Brent's pet Wolf, using his Regulas to amplify the power of the punches he aimed to the Wolf's face. The wolf whimpered, as it was hit, then used its paw to backhand Loke onto the ground. Then raised its paw to step on him, but Lucy wrapped her whip around the wolf's paw, pulling its arm back, causing the wolf to fall onto its side. "I got your back, Loke, don't worry!" Lucy gave a grin as Loke stood up, dusting himself off. She then heard a faint shout, causing her to look around. "Uh…"

"Watch out!" Luke finally finished his roll down the hill and slammed into Lucy, causing her to fall into a tree. "Ouch!" Luke sat up, rubbing his head. "Watch where you're goi-…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Lucy shouted, rubbing her head as she sat up, glaring at Luke.

"I'm on a mission, thank you!" Luke replied, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Did that mission include rolling down a hill and slamming into me!?" Lucy shouted in reply, fixing her hair as she stood up, huffing.

"No, but it would've been funny if you happened to get injured," Luke smirked, shrugging.

The Three Dragon Slayers looked up at Brent, deciding they should work together just this one time. They all sucked in a breath, firing off their respective roars right after, creating a huge funnel of flames, metal, and shadows that merged together, literally taking out half the forest. When the smoke cleared, Brent was in KO, and his wolf had been hit, also falling in KO, much to Lucy and Luke's surprise.

"Tak?" Luke looked down the hill, spotting his teammate next to Natsu and Gajeel. "Guess you guys are good for something…"

"YAH!" Without warning, Lucy tackled Luke down the hill.


	30. Chapter 30: Double Roar

"WAH!" Cynthia jumped from the sound of a body hitting the ground nearby. "What was that?!" She asked, looking around.

"I…I don't know!" Wendy replied, keeping her guard up.

"It came from over there…" Carla said, flying over in the direction from which the sound came from. The young girls followed the Exceed, stopping at the base of a hill. Aira was wincing in pain at the bottom of the hill, mumbling something under her breath.

"W-Who's that?!" Cynthia shouted, walking over to Aira and shook her slightly. "Hey…hey, are you okay!?"

"Ugh…Selene…" Aira groaned softly, unable to move.

"Wait!" Wendy placed her hands over Aira's body, a sea green light emitting from her hands. Aira's injuries healed, and the girl sat up, rubbing her head.

"W-Who are you!?" Aira jumped up, panting slightly.

"W-We're from Fairy Tail…!" Wendy replied, taking a step back in case Aira attacked.

"Fairy Tail…?" Aira lowered her guard just slightly as she looked at Cynthia, Wendy, and then Carla. "AH! SELENE!" Aira looked up at the hill she was tossed down.

"Selene…?" Cynthia tilted her head slowly.

"She's fighting up there and she needs my help!" Aira attempted to climb the hill, but she found that it was too steep to climb.

"Carla, can you fly us up there?" Wendy asked hopefully.

"Too many trees, we have to find another way around," Carla replied.

"Come on!" Aira didn't care who she was with, she just knew Selene's opponent was powerful, and that she probably needed help.

.

.

Veronica's poison did make contact with Selene; however, Selene's diamond shield was just enough to prevent any poison from happening. Selene looked up at her opponent with a smirk before rushing at her once again, throwing well-coordinated punches at kicks, their power increased due to the diamonds around her body. Veronica took the brunt of the punches before using her telekinesis to push the mage away. Selene planted her hands into the ground to stop her momentum, smirking as a gray magic circle appeared under Veronica. "Radiant Prison." A diamond structure shot up from the magic circle almost immediately after Selene spoke those words. She smirked as she saw Veronica struggling from the diamonds, crawling up her legs.

"Force Push!" Veronica pointed her hands down, an extreme force pushing the diamonds down into the ground, giving her enough time to step out unharmed. "That was close…" After she spoke, Selene landed a harsh haymaker to Veronica's jaw, causing Veronica to fly into a tree.

"Ha!" Selene put her hands together, morphing her arms into a large battle-axe. She then jumped into the air, raising the axe high above her head.

"Away from me!" Veronica placed her hand forward, pushing Selene away back into the ground. Veronica then stood up, a purple magic circle appearing under Selene. "Poison Geyser!" A geyser of thick purple poison shot up from below Selene, engulfing the girl as she let out a cry of agony. When the poison cleared, Selene's diamonds had faded, no; they were melted off from the acidic poison, while Selene was lying on the ground on her side, heaving heavily. Selene's diamonds protected her from the poison, but she was clearly heavily damaged.

"Ugh…" Selene attempted to push herself up, but she was having a hard time. "I didn't think I would have to go so far…"

"Sky Dragon's Roar! Omega Fire Dragon's Roar!" A unison raid of a sky blue hurricane and a funnel of orange fire flew forward over Selene's head, striking Veronica, causing the girl to fly back.

"Huh?" Selene winced as she looked forward, spotting Aira, Wendy, Cynthia, and Carla. "Aira?"

"Selene, are you okay!?" Aira knelt down to Selene, placing her hands over her.

"I'm fine…" Selene groaned softly, attempting to stand.

"You brats!" Veronica used a telekinetic barrier to shield herself from the unison roar, panting slightly due to the amount of magic energy she had to use to bring it up. She then noticed Wendy and scowled. "Oh, it's you!"

"Ah!" Wendy backed away slightly, remembering how she ended up poisoned the last time.

"I'll take her!" Cynthia said, standing in front of Wendy. "You two get that girl to safety, then come back.

"Sonic Boom!" Aira sent out a small burst of wind at Veronica, the attack too sudden to block, causing Veronica to slide back as she experienced sharp pain. She used this time to pick up Selene and quickly run off with Wendy.

"That little…" Veronica rubbed her abdomen where the attack connected, glaring at Cynthia. "So, you wanna be next, huh?" Cynthia didn't respond. While Veronica was talking, Cynthia landed a flaming fist to Veronica's jaw, causing the blonde-haired woman to stumble back. "You!" Veronica engulfed her hands in poison, throwing a fist at Cynthia.

"Wah!" Cynthia smelled the poison, and she remembers how deadly it was. She extended her red flames to block the poison from attacking her person. She ducked, shifting her body weight into her fist and landed a flaming uppercut to Veronica's chin, causing Veronica to stumble back yet again, her anger growing.

"Ugh, you brat!" Veronica scowled, pointing her hands forward as she Force Pushed Cynthia down into the ground, picking her up and tossed her aside. "I'll get rid of you first, then make you watch as your little bluenette friend suffers from poison!" Veronica smirked, nodding to herself.

"I won't let you hurt Wendy!" Cynthia stood up, snapping her fingers as several magic circles appeared around Veronica.

"What the?!" Veronica had no time to respond as the circle released streams of fire that exploded on contact, creating a large explosion overhead. When the smoke cleared, Veronica covered her body with thick poison to suppress the damage, panting heavily.

"Tch!" Veronica created her own magic circle under Cynthia's feet, smirking. "Poison Geyser."

"WAH!" Cynthia quickly rolled out of the wall just as the poison erupted from the magic circle, placing her hands on the ground, a red magic circle appearing. "Omega Fire Dragon's Line!" A line of fire raced from the magic circle as it raced towards Veronica, splitting through the ground as it did so.

"Not today!" Veronica held her hand out, using her telekinesis once again to create a barrier, taking the force of the attack, grunting. "Tch, she's a strong one…"

Cynthia jumped up, flames extending from her arms as she flew at Veronica. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!"

"Psh!" Veronica swiped her hand across the air, using her telekinesis to redirect Cynthia into a tree, causing a smoke cloud.

"Ugh…" Cynthia was dazed from the sudden impact, rubbing her head. Though she had no time to recover as Veronica lifted her up from afar, then repeatedly slammed her into the ground, laughing.

"Oh, this is too fun! Two wizards became my rag doll today!" She then flung Cynthia into another tree. "You Fairy Tail and White Eclipse are both scum, yet so fun to play with!"

.

.

After a few minutes of walking, Aira finally put Selene down, the placed her hands over her. "These injuries are pretty bad…" Aira said, biting her lip from worry.

"She needs treatment now," Carla said, looking around in case anyone followed.

"I'll do it!" Wendy replied, placing her hands over Selene's body as a sea green light emitted as she started to heal Selene's wounds.

"Why…you're from Fairy Tail…you hate us…" Aira said quietly.

"I don't hate you," Wendy replied with a soft tone. "And Cynthia told me she's the one who helped her out when I was poisoned, so I can return the favor in some way, right?"

Aira stayed silent, thinking to herself. "I see…"

.

.

Reve, Taya, Zalen were standing off against Erza in a large clearing in the forest. The White Eclipse mages were smirking, except for Taya. "Well, well…" Reve started, nudging Zalen with his shoulder. "Look what we have here…"

"What are you doing here?" Erza asked in a demanding tone, glaring at Reve, remembering how he shot at her a few weeks ago.

"We're on a mission, of course," Reve replied, his smirk still plastered over his face. "Along with a few other members, of course."

"Yes, now if you wouldn't mind moving out of our way," Taya started.

"I find it hard to believe you have the same mission as us AGAIN, Reve," Erza said, her eyes focused on Reve's.

Reve chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh? You are basically saying it's hard to believe that White Eclipse is getting jobs Fairy Tail can't handle. That doesn't surprise me; it takes a while to get used to becoming number two." Reve rolled up his sleeves subconsciously, his smirk widening.

"Fairy Tail isn't number two," Erza said in a defensive tone.

"So…about you losing…" Zalen said, unable to control himself.

Erza glared at Zalen, but didn't make any other move, nor did she respond. She had no excuse for her defeat at the hand of the dark guild's master. "…."

"Exactly," Reve said. "Don't worry, though. White Eclipse thanks Fairy Tail for keeping that number one spot nice and warm for us."

"Can we just go already?" Taya asked in an irritated tone. "How about we prove we're number one and complete this mission instead of bragging about how we ARE going to complete it. If she's speechless now, that'll just make it better later."

"She's right, Reve," Zalen replied, fixing his glasses.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get moving…" Reve said winking tauntingly at Titania before starting to walk off.

.

.

Cynthia coated herself in dark red flames, a fist pulled back as she attempted to overcome the intense for of Veronica's telekinesis that was attempting to push her back. "You're persistent! Just lie down and die already!" Veronica shouted, pushing her hands forward as she put more magical energy into her telekinesis.

"I…I can't lose! Not to you!" Cynthia said through grit teeth, slowly pushing herself forward.

"What do you mean you CAN'T lose?" Veronica asked with a smug grin. "I'm going to MAKE you lose, like it or not!"

"I can't lose because…because I…I AM A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD!" After Cynthia spoke these words, her red flames darkened considerably as she pushed herself forward, landing a devastating punch to Veronica's face, sending her skidding across the ground until she came to a stop near a cliff. Cynthia then placed her hands together, a dark red magic circle appearing. "Secret Art: Omega Fire Dragon's Radiant Fang!" She threw her hands forward, and from the magic circle a red dragon head roared, shooting itself forward as it rammed into Cynthia, creating a large explosion of red flames to tower after impact, leaving Cynthia twitching on her back. Cynthia fell to her knees, panting heavily. "Haha…I won…!"

Wendy, Carla, Aira, and Selene ran near the cliff area, spotting Cynthia's victory. "She did it…" Selene muttered quietly.

"Cynthia!" Wendy ran forward towards Cynthia, her arms out to give her friend a congratulatory hug.

"Got'cha!" Veronica sat up, immediately hurling a thick ball of poison that made direct contact with Wendy's stomach, causing the Dragon Slayer to fall onto her back as the poison starting to course through her veins, much more dangerously than last time.

"WENDY!" Carla's eyes widened as she watched her partner fall to the ground.

"WENDY!" Cynthia's eyes widened considerably, after what she told Veronica about not allowing her to hurt Wendy, she snapped. "N-NOO!" Cynthia held her hands on the side of her head as the red flames around her body started to grow, growing larger every second until the very tip of the flames flared two miles into the sky, visible to everyone in the forest.

"C-Calm down!" Selene attempted to get close to Cynthia, but the flames were too hot and flared to dangerous for her to get close, causing Selene to back away. "Aira!"

"I know!" Aira placed her hands over Wendy's body as a green light appeared. Aira's healing wasn't as good as Wendy's but the poison was slowly fading away.

"HAHA! That's hilarious!" Veronica floated off the ground slightly, laughing at Cynthia's state. Cynthia was unable to control herself as her flames grew larger.

"I-I can't stop…! Wendy…I'm sorry! I said I wouldn't let her hurt you and I just…" Cynthia whimpered softly before letting out a loud scream. By this point, everyone in the forest had converged near the cliff area, kept at bay by Cynthia's flames.

"What the hell is going one!?" Luke asked, his eyes widening.

"That girl's lost control…" Takeru replied, realizing how dangerous Cynthia was in this state immediately.

"What's wrong with Cynthia!" Happy flailed, feeling the heat of the flames from several yards away.

"That girl's crazy…" Reve requiped a pistol into his hand, taking aim at Cynthia.

"DON'T!" Erza commanded, stepping in front of Reve with her Flame Empress Armor on. "

"She's crazy! She'll burn down this entire forest!" Reve replied, keeping his gun pointed at Erza.

"That doesn't mean you have any right to take her down," Gray replied, carrying Juvia in his arms.

"We'll deal with it," Natsu said, pushing Reve away.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Michio said, panting heavily from his chest wound.

"Done!" Aira finished healing Wendy, who snapped awake immediately. Wendy looked over at Cynthia, her eyes widening as she saw Cynthia walking towards the cliff to stop herself form causing too much pain for anyone.

"Cynthia!" Wendy recklessly ran towards Cynthia, not caring that the flames were literally burning her clothes slowly. She ran up to Cynthia, pulling her into a tight hug. "Cynthia, I'm here!"

"W-Wendy!" Cynthia could not help putting her arms around Wendy, pulling her in a tight hug. She was relieved to see that Wendy was okay, but her flames wouldn't stop, they were out of her control now. "I-I'm scared!"

"I'll save you…just like we said!" Wendy winced from the burning sensation of the fire, but it was time. Cynthia turned around, holding Wendy up over the cliff much to everyone's surprise. It was just how Carla saw it in her vision when they first met Cynthia on the mountain.

"Wendy what are you doing!?" Carla cried out. "It's too dangerous, get out of there!"

"N-No! I can do it…I have to!" Wendy clenched her teeth, releasing her magic power as blue light appeared around her.

"Wendy, no!" Natsu charged into the fire, growling as he tried to push himself through, but it wasn't working. The outward force of the flames pushed him back to the ground. "Gah!" Natsu got up, trying repeatedly, only he kept failing. He was mentally cursing himself for being unable to eat the flames.

"This is crazy…that child is insane…" Taya scoffed, looking away from the scene.

"We have to do something…" Zalen replied taking a step back as the flames grew larger.

"I…I can do this…" The flames caused Wendy unbearable pain, but she stood firm as she continued to use her magic to overpower Cynthia.

Veronica just laughed, watching this entire thing. It was suicidal to say the least, and she was laughing at the stupidity of the White Eclipse and Fairy Tail mages who were just watching. "Wow, this is the best day EVER!"

"YOU SHUT UP!" Natsu roared over to Veronica. He would've attacked, but she was on the other side of Cynthia, and he couldn't get through the intense flames Cynthia was giving off. Wendy's magical power came to its end, and everything fell silent as she went limp in Cynthia's arms.

"WENDY!" Lucy covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes starting to water.

"Wendy…" Cynthia fell silent, tears starting to stream down her eyes. She knew it wouldn't work…she was an idiot for even agreeing! "NOOO!"

A few seconds passed before a familiar inhalation sound cut through the silence, Cynthia's flames slowly lowering. "That noise…." Luke's eyes widened once again.

"What…what is that noise…?" Reve looked as the flames were slowly dying down.

"Wait, what?" Veronica stopped laughing as she turned to face the pair. Wendy wasn't dead! Wendy was EATING Cynthia's flames. A few more seconds passed before the flames died down, and Cynthia set Wendy down, panting.

"W-Wendy…!?" Cynthia looked up at Wendy, who was surrounded by raging winds and red fire.

"I told you I would help you…" Wendy said with a soft smile.

"S-She…She ate her flames…" Carla's mouth was hanging open. "Did she come up with this idea on her own…?"

"Wait…what…?" Veronica floated back slowly, her back hitting a tree as Wendy slowly approached her.

"You hurt Cynthia…" Wendy's hand engulfed itself in raging winds and dark red fire. "I won't forgive you! Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy pulled her fist back, striking Veronica right in her stomach, sending her through several trees, and into a small clearing.

"Ugh…" Veronica shook off the impact slowly, only to look up and see Wendy above her with her arms spread out.

"Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy expelled sharp hurricanes with red fire from her arms, the attack creating a giant smoke cloud as Veronica yelped from the attack. As the smoke cleared, Veronica was coughing on the ground and Wendy landed, puffing her cheeks out. "Roar…" a vortex of red fire and wind formed around her mouth. "Of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" Wendy threw her head forward, unleashing a MASSIVE hurricane or red fire and wind, engulfing the forest and shot out into the mountains, eventually dying down after a minute or so. The roar split the ground and the mountains, and Veronica was down, there was no way she was going to recover from such an attack.

"W-Whoa…" Elfman limped forward, holding his chest.

Everyone just stood, wide eyed at what they all just witnessed. "W-What just..." Gajeel found himself at a loss for words for once.

"W-Wendy…" Carla covered her mouth with her paws, unable to find what she wanted to say.

"Holy. Hell…" This was the one thing in the world that left Reve speechless. He always had something to say, but for this event, he had nothing.

"I told you…I would help you, Cynthia…" Wendy gave a small smile before hitting the ground, passing out from magic usage.

Taya remained silent, not because she couldn't find anything to say, but because this was enough to even surprise her, and it showed through her widened eyes. "Cat got your tongue…?" Luke asked jokingly. "Because it sure has mine…"

.

.

The leader of the group of dark mages, Mack, groaned. He wasn't getting a signal from anyone of his members. "Don't tell me they all…UGH!" Mack noticed the roar barreling by, and he barely had time to dodge it. "W-What the hell was that!? Where is everyone!?"

.

.

Head Captain Lahar of the Magic Council was investigating in a town a few miles away from the forest when a large tower of dark red fire caught his attention; His eyes widened as he stood up, though the flames quickly died down. He could not tell the area from where the flames came from, but he knew one thing, the person he was looking for was closer than he thought.


	31. Chapter 31: Dinner Plans

Team White Eclipse made their way back to their guild by nightfall, the shocked expression on their faces still plastered on their face. A tall male with white hair, a black sleeveless shirt, black pants with a red scarf around his waist and one around his mouth stepped forward. "You all look like you've seen a ghost," the male said, eying the group suspiciously. This male was the ace of White Eclipse, Sidney Castle, the ghost mage, and Zalen's older brother.

"Wendy just…! Then Cynthia! And then that!" Luke was still too flustered to create coherent sentences, as shown by his arms flailing round.

"Calm down, Luke," a male with green hair, a red and blue eye with a tattoo over it, a black and purple shirt, and purple pants said, walking up to the group next to Sidney. This male was Jaxon Metero, the meteorology mage, ultimately meaning he can control the weather. Jaxon's first fight against Fairy Tail was against Gray, and the two tied after an intense battle. Jaxon also had a fight with Erza Scarlet, though Jaxon came close, he was defeated.

Luke took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, "WENDY ATE CYNTHIA'S MAGIC AND IT WAS JUST WHAT"

"Who did what now?" Sidney blinked as the group stepped inside the main room.

"This girl, Cynthia," Zalen started. "Some Omega Fire Dragon Slayer or something like that…Basically, Fairy Tail's Sky Dragon Slayer at that magic, and she now has a dual mode like Natsu's Lighting Flame mode.

"And this is amazing because…" Sidney question.

"Because Natsu can't eat her flames yet Wendy did!" Aira replied, crashing on the couch. "Ugh…Long day."

"Right…" Sidney shook his head, walking off. As Sidney walked off, a male black hair, a white robe with a black sash tied around his torso, and boots walked over to the group.

"Master Cailum…" Taya said quietly.

"How did the mission go?" Calium asked.

"We got 'em all," Reve replied, smirking. "Mission complete." This news brought a smile to the master's face. "Good job, all of you. I knew I could count on you."

"Good! I could use some rest now…" Luke sighed heavily, taking a seat on the floor, not even caring.

"Sit up," a voice said. A male stood behind Luke, he had bandages over his eyes, and he was wearing a coat and black pants. This man was Arcturus, the Demon Slayer of White Eclipse, easily one of their strongest mages.

"Yes, sir!" Luke stood up without hesitation.

"You know," Takeru started, sitting in his chair. "That Cynthia girl interests me…"

"What do you mean, Tak?" Reve asked, taking a seat on the couch next to Aira.

"She's a Dragon Slayer, yet her flames seemed…different," Takeru said, nodding to himself. "I want to investigate this, yes."

"Good luck with that," Taya shrugged, walking into her room to retire for the night.

"Wait what about din…er…" Waiston sighed, leaning against the wall. "Man…"

"Dinner, huh?" Selene's stomach rumbled lowly. "I'm hungry…"

"Taya was supposed to cook…" Reve sighed.

"Oh, I have an idea for dinner!" Luke nodded as he smirked slightly.

"Oh, what's this idea?" Reve asked, raising an eyebrow.

.

.

Team Fairy Tail made their way back to their guild, still in shock from the act Wendy. Natsu was the most surprised, as he was unable to eat Cynthia's flames at all, yet Wendy just did so. "What's the matter?" Gildarts asked as the group walked inside. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something," Gildarts chuckled before going back to his drink.

"Wendy...and Cynthia just!" Natsu flailed, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Slow down, Natsu,". Mirajane said with a nervous smile.

"I ate Cynthia's fire..." Wendy said in a sheepish tone, catching everyone's attention.

"You did what?" Mirajane replied, obviously in shock.

"It was part of our plan!" Cynthia nodded. "I didn't think it would actually work..."

{Flash back}

"If I'm close, and you lose control...I'll eat your flames," Wendy said with a firm nod.

"WHAT?!" Cynthia stood up, shaking her head. "That's too dangerous! Natsu can't even eat my flames!"

"I know it's possible!" Wendy replied as she stood up, nodding firmly.

"How do you know?!" Cynthia asked, giving Wendy a doubtful look.

"I've seen it! Natsu-san ate Laxus-san's lightning, and Gajeel-san ate Rogue-san's shadows! Lighting Flame and Iron Shadow! I'm sure I could do it too!" Wendy nodded again.

"My flames are too dangerous...if I lose control, you could die...I don't want you to die because you tried helping me..." Cynthia looked down at the green grass flowing from the light breeze that filled the night.

"I know it could work, if you did lose control...Cynthia, do you trust me?" Wendy placed a hand on Cynthia's shoulder, giving a reassuring smile.

"More than anyone I've ever met..."

{End Flashback}

"You two are crazy little girls, you know that?" Macao shook his head, but a faint smile appeared in his lips from the successful plan.

"They really had us all worried..." Lucy sighed. "My heart was about to burst from worrying so much..."

"Ahehe...I'm sorry, Lucy-san,". Wendy gave a sheepish smile at the blonde before taking a seat. "It's been a long day..."

"I'm gonna go home after eating and sleep for a week..." Lucy said, yawning.

"My body is still sore..." Laki mumbled. A few minutes later, the front door to Fairy Tail opened, and a few figured were standing there.

"Who's there?" Elfman asked, readying himself in case it was an enemy. Reve, Luke, and Kuro stepped through the front doors, smirking.

"What do you want now?!" Natsu's fist engulfed itself in flames as he stared at Luke.

"Hey, hey!" Kuro waved his arms around frantically. "We don't want any trouble!"

"What /do/ you want then?" Cana asked, taking a sip of her beer.

Reve cleared his throat before speaking. "We, the members of White Eclipse, invite you, Fairy Tail, to dinner."


	32. Chapter 32: White Eclipse Dinner

"You're...inviting us...to dinner?" Lucy blinked, taken aback by the sudden invitation.

"Yeah!" Kuro nodded cheerfully.

"Why would you do that?" Gray asked, watching Reve carefully.

"Do we really need a reason to invite you guys over to dinner?" Luke asked, crossing his arms.

"Because you'll try and do something to us, won't you?!" Lucy shouted, glaring at Luke.

"Lu-chan!" Levy waved her arms. "D-Don't be like that...! Maybe they're just trying to be nice..."

"I'll believe that when I see it..." Natsu said in a low tone.

"Well, you COULD see it if you accepted out invitation! Come on!" Kuro nodded, giving an innocent, yet cheerful grin.

"Tch, no way," Gray replied. "I'm not going."

"If Gray-sama isn't going, Juvia won't either," Juvia nodded.

"What? We can't extend a friendly hand out to you guys? Figures," Reve shrugged, turning around. "Come on guys, let's go. They clearly aren't interested."

"W-Wait!" Levy objected. "I'll give you guys a chance!"

"L-Levy-chan!" Lucy was shocked by her friend's sudden agreement.

"Oh?" Reve turned around, a slight smirk on his face. "And why's that, McGarden?"

"If you guys are true oh extending a friendly hand, I don't see why I can't trust you," Levy replied.

"I can't let her go alone..." Mirajane thought to herself. "I don't trust any of them, especially Luke..." Mirajane walked from behind the bar, her hands on her hips. "I'll go too."

"Mirajane too?" Lucy blinked once again. "I guess I'll go too..."

"If Lucy's going, I'm going,". Natsu replied, glaring over at the three White Eclipse mages.

"Aye, sir!" Happy nodded.

"Cynthia, why don't we go too?" Wendy asked, a smile on her face. "It sounds like it could be fun!"

"I don't see why not...They seem like nice people..." Cynthia nodded slowly.

"Hey now," Cana started, putting on a jacket. "You kids aren't going anywhere without adult supervision.

"If that's your way of asking if we have beer then the answer is yes," Luke chuckled.

"Listen up!" Markarov said, glaring at the three White Eclipse mages. "If ANY of my children come back harmed from your dinner, I will personally march over to White Eclipse, and destroy the place myself. Are we clear on that, Reve?"

"Of course, old man," Reve nodded. "So, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Cynthia, Cana, Mirajane, and Levy"

"Don't forget the exceeds, aye!" Happy said in a slightly upset tone.

"That's right,". Carla chimed in. "I don't trust any of you White Eclipse mages, and it's my job to keep Wendy safe, so I will be accompanying you all."

"The more the merrier!" Kuro smiled from ear to ear, clapping his hands once from excitement.

"Anyone else?" Luke asked, scanning the main area. "I guess not...Let's go then!"

"Right, follow us," Reve said as he lead the group out the front doors, and towards White Eclipse.

"Do you think it was a good idea to just let them to...?" Romeo asked Markarov. "What if it's just a trap...?"

"Mirajane is there," Markarov smirked slightly, the thought of White Eclipse enraging Mirajane pleasing him somewhat, "If anything, they should be the ones worried."

"And if she fails, there's me, Erza, Gildarts, and you, old man,". Laxus shrugged, leaning back to his chair. "In short, they should know not to mess with us."

After a long trek up the mountains, the group made it to White Eclipse. Reve opened the front doors, Jaxon greeting the group once they arrived. "Do we had guest?" Jaxon asked.

"Yes we do,". Reve nodded, pushing the doors open to allow everyone inside. Levy accidentally pushed past Jaxon, and she didn't want to come off as rude.

"S-sorry...!" Levy looked up at Jaxon with a nervous expression. Not the best way to make a good impression when in a rival guild.

"Oh, it's okay, miss..." Jaxon strung out the last word in attempt for Levy to say her name.

"L-Levy..." Levy nodded at Jaxon slowly, holding back the hearts in her eyes from Jaxon's appearance.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Levy!" The green haired male nodded with a warm smile.

"Hey, guys!" Hanako walked out if the kitchen with a bag of chips, happily munching on them.

"...Are those my chips?" Luke raised an eyebrow at the plant mage, slowly walking over to her.

Hanako's eyes shifted from left to right before hiding the bag behind her back. "Maybe..."

"So, where's dinner?" Natsu asked, his guard up in case someone attempted a sneak attack.

"Oh, it's not ready...at all!" Kuro nodded.

"Why would you invite us to dinner when there is no dinner?!" Lucy groaned, already annoyed with everyone in here.

"Because we're gonna cook for you!" Kuro nodded, grinning cheerfully.

"So what are we suppose to do in the meantime...?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow, looking around the main area of the guild.

"Simple," Reve replied. "Jaxon, would you mind giving Mirajane and Levy a tour?"

"Of course not!" Jaxon nodded. "Will you two come with me?"

"Sure thing..." Levy said in a near dreamy tone.

"Sure..." Mirajane said, following behind Jaxon as he started to give them a tour.

"Where's the bar?" Cana asked bluntly. "You better not have been lying when you said there was beer here."

The pointed in the direction of the bar, "Over there."

"Great!" Cana dropped everything, rushing over to the bar and took a seat, filling a glass with beer. A few minutes later, a male with brown hair and brown eyes estimated to be about 20 took a seat next to her, filling his own glass with beer. "Who're you?" Cana asked, eyeing the male suspiciously.

"Name's Jack Royal! And I can see I'm not the only one here who loves me some alcohol!" Jack said, a slight smirk on his face.

"Cana Albernona, mage of Fairy Tail," Cana couldn't help but smirk when Jack said he loved alcohol. "So, you drink too, eh?"

"Of course!" Jack replied. "I just got back from a two year international beer run not too long ago!"

"So how about we have a little contest?" Cana's smirk widened as she poured another shot.

"Keheheh, sure, should be a fun way to pass the time!" Jack grinned, pouring another shot for himself.

"Luke, come with me to the kitchen," Reve said, dragging Luke along into the kitchen.

"This is a nice place..." Cynthia said aloud.

"Isn't it?" Hanako replied, still eating Luke's chips.

"...Have we met?" Cynthia asked, sniffing Hanako. "Your scent is familiar..."

"...I think so!" Hanako replied, a little weirded out by Cynthia's sniffing.

"C-Cynthia..." Wendy felt slightly embarrassed by Cynthia's actions.

"You really invited them over…?" Sidney asked from afar.

"Yup!" Kuro nodded, leading the Fairy Tail group to the main area for them to relax. "Sit down, relax, and enjoy yourself!"

"Who is that guy?" Cynthia asked Kuro.

"Oh, that's Sidney! Our SS class mage!" Kuro nodded.

"SS? You mean like Gildarts?" Natsu asked, his interest in Sidney rising.

"Stronger than Gildarts!" Kuro nodded with a grin.

"No one is stronger than Gildarts!" Cynthia shouted.

"You'd be surprised, little one," Sidney replied.

"I don't thrust this place…" Carla mumbled, taking a seat on a chair.

"I don't like anyone in this place…" Natsu grumbled under his breath.

"We could at least keep our manners…" Lucy sighed, realizing it would be hard to do with the White Eclipse members' exceptional ability to irritate her, and the others, with little difficulty. After about thirty minutes, Luke and Reve stepped out of the kitchen with smirks on their face.

"Dinner's ready!" Reve shouted, causing the members who were around quickly sat at the large table. Hanako, Takeru, Waiston, Kuro, Sidney, Nami, sat down. Arcturus separated himself by sitting at another table. Jaxon, upon hearing Reve's call, walked Levy and Mirajane back to the main room, where they all took a seat.

"What's for dinner?" Waiston asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Steak, and mash potatoes," Luke nodded, placing the plates filled with food in front of everyone, sitting down after.

"Smell good!" Kuro grinned.

"Don't choke on it, Mirajane," Luke said with a smug grin.

"You too…" Mirajane narrowed her eyes at the copy mage before taking a deep breath, and giving a false smile. "Well, let's eat."

"Where is everyone…?" Cynthia asked between bites. She's not exactly well versed in table manners.

"Aira dragged Selene out to a mission, Zalen and Taya are in their rooms knocked out, Azeleon is out hunting as usual, might not see him again for a while. Zain's on his own mission, along with Michio," Reve nodded slowly.

"Michio…" Mirajane's eye twitched at the mention of Michio's name.

"U-Uh…everything alright, Mira-san?" Wendy asked with a worried tone and expression.

"Just…fine…" Mirajane let out a deep breath before giving a small smile. "See?"

"Hmph…" Takeru said nothing, but he just shook his head.

"Is there a problem, Takeru?" Natsu asked with a glare.

"Nope, just an idiotic pink haired Dragon Slayer in our guild, that's all," Takeru shrugged.

"This steak is amazing!" Levy said with a sweat drop on her forehead, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Why thank you!" Luke said with a small bow.

"So, Cynthia, was it?" Reve started, looking over at the young girl.

"Yes?" Cynthia swallowed her steak, looking at Reve.

"You're a Dragon Slayer, right? What generation?" Reve asked, eying her carefully.

"Second Generation," Cynthia replied, hoping she wouldn't have to go into much detail. Sidney was secretly eying Cynthia as well; something about her soul intrigued him to a degree.

"What did you say?" Natsu clenched a fist, doing his best to keep calm. Lucy took his hand in hers, trying to calm him down.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered.

"Takeru, be nice!" Nami nodded a few times.

"I don't do nice," Takeru replied, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms. "Besides, with an attitude like that, it's hard for anyone to say anything."

"You're one to talk!" Natsu stood up in his chair, prompting Takeru to stand up.

"You wanna go, Salamander?" Takeru replied with a smug smirk.

"I'll whoop your butt again anytime!" Natsu replied, a small smirk starting to appear on his face.

"Hehehe…" Cynthia couldn't help but giggle at all of this.

"W-What's so funny?" Natsu asked, his smirk replaced by a confused look as everyone looked at Cynthia.

"This, you guys are pretty funny," Cynthia replied.

"How is this funny?" Luke scoffed.

"You guys act like you hate each other so much and it's cute," Cynthia nodded slowly.

"Are you NOT sensing legitimate hostility around here or something?" Sidney raised a brow.

"Well, that comes with being rivals, right? I mean…it's hard not to notice Mira hating on Luke for whatever reason…but, I heard that the worst rivals make the best teams!" Cynthia nodded a few times, a small smile appearing on her face. "I mean, you guys are acting like Natsu and Gray, or Natsu and Gajeel. You fight over near pointless things, you "hate" each other yet I bet if you put your differences aside, White Eclipse and Fairy Tail would make an amazing team!"

"Ha!" Reve couldn't help but laugh. "That's cute, kid."

"Don't believe me?" Cynthia raised an eyebrow.

"We're competing for number one guild in Fiore, not that there is much competition," Reve smirked slightly.

"I don't know much about that…" Cynthia shook her head. "But I can give you an example of teamwork!"

"By all means, go ahead!" Waiston chuckled, waiting to see what Cynthia would come up with.

"Luke, if you and Lucy stopped pretending to hate each other, and make amends, I'm sure you two would make an amazing team!" Cynthia grinned; her comment catching both Lucy and Luke off guard.

"W-WHAT!? I am NOT pretending!" Luke huffed, crossing his arms.

"And I DO hate him, and what he's become!" Lucy scowled slightly.

"You're only proving my point!" Cynthia grinned wider.

"I'm so done with you," Luke stood up, and walked away.

"Screw that!" Natsu pounded his fist into the table. "I'm never working with any of these White Eclipse assholes!"

"N-Natsu-san!?" Wendy gasped at Natsu's sudden outburst.

Sidney stood up, placing his hands on the table. "That's it. Salamander, outside. Now."

"Huh?" Natsu looked up at Sidney.

"We invited you to a peaceful dinner, yet you have the nerve to insult us within our own guild? I wouldn't stand for that if you didn't have a guild mark, and I'm especially not going to take it from someone in another guild," Sidney said, his tone obviously threatening.

"He got Sidney mad…" Kuro whispered.

"I told you he was an idiot…" Takeru shrugged.

"What happens if I beat you!?" Natsu grinned, the thought of defeating White Eclipse's ace filling his head.

"If you win, I'll allow it. If you lose, you have to apologize to every member here, and take the White Eclipse punishment," Sidney nodded slowly.

"You're on! I've been waiting all night to kick someone's ass here!" Natsu's smirk widened as flames covered his body. "I'm fired up!"


	33. Chapter 33: Natsu vs Sidney

The group made their way outside to the front. Natsu and Sidney were standing a few paces apart from each other, while the others were watching on the front porch of the guild. "So, are you gonna go first, or am I gonna make the first move?" Natsu grinned, pounding his fist together.

"It's customary to allow the weaker opponent the first move," Sidney replied. That's all Natsu needed to hear too.

Natsu sprinted forward, his right arm cocked back as flames danced wildly around his fist. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw his arm forward at Sidney, who leaned his body to the side, avoiding the punch. This only increased Natsu's confidence, however. If he was fighting Gildarts, Gildarts would've countered the punch and tossed Natsu away like a rag doll, Sidney just dodged.

"GO NATSU!" Happy waved his arms around in the air happily.

"Hey you, Wendy, right?" Reve asked.

"Yeah…?" Wendy turned her attention to Reve, tilting her head.

"You're the healer, right?" Reve asked, his attention not leaving the fight.

"Yes, why?"

"I suggest you're ready…Natsu's going to need some healing when this fight is over…" Reve chuckled a bit.

"Something's not right about that guy…" Carla narrowed her eyes at Sidney, who was putting little effort in dodging Natsu's punches.

Natsu finally landed a hit on Sidney's chest, grinning widely. "I got'cha!"

A few seconds passed before Sidney shook his head slowly. "Was that supposed to hurt…?" Natsu's eyes widened slightly, but he figured that Sidney was bluffing. Natsu jumped back, allowing flames to cover his leg, jumping forward once again.

"Talons of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu aimed his leg at Sidney's neck, but Sidney brought up his forearm, easily blocking the kick. Natsu didn't let up however, the Fire Dragon Slayer jumped back yet again, puffing his cheeks out. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu opened his mouth, unleashing a funnel of fire towards Sidney.

"Hm," Sidney placed his hands together, a purple fog filling the area. The fog lingered for a few seconds, and when it faded, Natsu and Sidney switched places.

"WH-" Natsu let out a yelp of surprise when he was attacked by his own move, a miniature smoke cloud appearing from the impact.

"W-What just happened?!" Levy's eyes widened slightly.

"They switched places?!" Lucy rubbed her eyes to make sure what she saw was true, and sure enough, it was.

"That's Sidney for you!" Kuro nodded.

Natsu jumped from the smoke cloud, glaring at Sidney. "That was lucky!"

"Tch," Sidney placed his hands together again, the purple fog reappearing. When the fog cleared, Natsu was standing on a small raft in the middle of the ocean. However, this was only an illusion created by Sidney. Natsu was unaware of this, so he fell to his stomach, his face turning blue as his cheeks puffed out in a way that made it look as though he were about to hurl.

"Ugh…What's going on…?" Natsu groaned.

"W-What now? Get up, Natsu!" Happy jumped up a few times.

Reve let out a soft chuckle, "Oh, now he's just playing with him…"

"Playing with him?" Mirajane cut her eyes at Reve, then Sidney. "Is this a game to you or something!?"

"Hush, demon," Sidney replied. "I can make your worst nightmares come true, so watch your tone with me."

"Come on, Natsu! Fight!" Cynthia moved her arms up and down.

"H-Hey!" Natsu attempted to stand, but the "raft" was causing too much trouble for him, his motion sickness starting to get the better of him. "I'm right here…!"

"He hasn't even thrown a punch yet…" Levy whispered.

"Trust me; you don't want him to swing…" Waiston nodded slowly.

"Come on, finish it, Sidney!" Reve shouted from the sidelines.

"Fine," Sidney dispersed the illusion, and Natsu hopped back up, panting heavily.

"I'm gonna finish it right here!" Natsu pulled his arm back as he sprinted forward once again. Sidney pulled his own arm back, waiting for Natsu to get close. When the two were in range, they swung their fist at each other, the area going silent after some kind of collision; the two combatants unmoving.

"W-What happened…?" Lucy whispered under her breath.

Natsu's fist stopped just before Sidney's face, while Sidney fist struck Natsu directly in the torse, causing Natsu's eyes to widen. A sickening crunching sound broke through the silence as Natsu fell onto his knees, and then onto his side, defeated. "N-NATSU!" Happy shouted out.

"What was that noise…?" Levy muttered under her breath. Sidney raised his foot, and then started stomping on Natsu repeatedly.

'W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Lucy cried out before running over to Natsu and Sidney with Happy by her side, but a wall of fire and ice created by Waiston and Kuro cut her off.

"Natsu lost," Reve stated.

"Exactly! So stop the fight! It's over!" Levy pleaded.

"No can do…" Kuro frowned slightly.

"And why not!?" Mirajane growled.

"The bet was if Natsu lost, he'd have to go through the White Eclipse punishment. This is exactly what it is," Reve nodded slowly.

"That's so brutal…" Cynthia averted her eyes from the sigh, unable to bear the sight of Natsu so helpless while someone stronger repeatedly stepped on him. None of the White Eclipse members objected as Natsu's pain filled screams echoed throughout the mountain range.

"S-STOP IT!" Lucy cried out once more, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"N-Natsu-san…!" Wendy closed her eyes, turning her head away. She knew each guild had its own punishments for breaking the rules, but never had she seen once so brutal.

"…" Takeru stayed silent. Normally he would enjoy this, but he felt empathy for Natsu, since Takeru went through the exact same punishment as before when he and another member took an S class mission, while they aren't S class mages.

Luke was watching Sidney pound Natsu from the second floor balcony, shaking his head. "Idiot…"

"It's a bit too much….don't you think?" Nami looked over at Luke, frowning heavily.

"He agreed to it…" Luke sighed, leaning against the railing.

"Please…stop it…" Cynthia couldn't bear the sound of Natsu's screams of agony; red flames starting to appear on her body as her emotions started to take control. "Stop it…please…"

"C-Cynthia…!" Wendy threw her arms around Cynthia, attempting to console her while she a few tears fell from Wendy's eyes. Wendy knew every guild had its own kinds of punishments, but never had she seen one so brutal.

"Natsu…STOP IT PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!" A tear rolled down Lucy's cheek and fell onto the snow as she watched the horrific sight.

"That's ENOUGH!" A magic circle appeared over Mirajane as she entered her Satan Soul takeover, immediately spreading her wings as she flew through the fire and ice wall, pulling her fist back. "STOP IT!" Mirajane threw her fist, but Sidney caught it, not even looking in her direction.

"I was finished," Sidney replied. Sidney carelessly kicked Natsu's body over onto his back, revealing all the bruises. "His ribs are broken, so you might want to fix that," Sidney shrugged, walking off as if nothing happened.

"N-Natsu…!" Lucy crouched down, cradling the unconscious Natsu in her arms.

"N-Natsu-san!" Wendy and Cynthia rushed over to Natsu. Wendy placed her hands over Natsu's chest as she began to heal his injuries.

"…It was nice having you over!" Kuro said, attempting to change the mood. However, the Fairy Tail group was no longer in the mood for talking.

"Before you leave, don't forget your drunk," Waiston commented, pointing to the unconscious Cana on the floor. She and Jack tied in the drinking contest, and both were out cold, unaware of the events that transpired. Mirajane stomped past the White Eclipse members present, shooting them all a hateful glare before picking up Cana, and started down the trail along with everyone else.

"W-We're gonna tell Master, aren't we..?" Cynthia asked, rubbing her arm.

"Yes, we're going to," Mirajane replied.

"The WHOLE story, right…?" Cynthia asked again, worried that parts of the story would be left out on purpose to make White Eclipse seem like the bad guys.

"Yes…" Mirajane nodded slowly.

"Well…that could've gone worse," Luke shrugged.

"I don't really see how…" Nami sighed, shaking her head.

"The entire group could've been bodied by Sidney instead of Natsu?" Luke turned around, starting to walk away.

"Way to make a first impression, Sid," Reve chuckled slightly. "Good thing that Wendy girl was here otherwise you would've had another Dragon Slayer to deal with."

"Cynthia…her soul intrigues me…" Sidney said before walking inside.

"Eh, I kinda like her. She's funny, I'll give her that," Reve shrugged before walking inside with everyone else.


	34. Chapter 34: Festival Prep

A few days after the dinner with White Eclipse, Cynthia, Natsu, Wendy, and Lucy were out in an open field, sparring for the afternoon. "Come on, Wendy!" Natsu urged Wendy to come at him, entering his lightning Flame Mode. "You can do it again, right?"

"I don't know how I did it the last time, Natsu-san…" Wendy shifted around on her feet uncomfortably, looking down at the ground.

"Maybe it was a onetime thing…?" Cynthia tilted her head slowly,

"Gajeel can do it, and I can do it too!" Natsu nodded. "I'm sure you can do it too!"

"I'll try…" Wendy placed her feet apart, taking a deep breath. Red flames and raging winds slowly started to surround her body after a few minutes passed; however, it all vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Darn…"

"Nothing, huh…" Lucy frowned a little.

"You just need a little practice," Natsu nodded, exiting his Lightning Flame mode. "You'll get the hang of it! In the meantime, why don't we head back?"

"Sounds good to me," Cynthia nodded slowly, taking a step forward; after she took that one step, a voice shouted over to them.

"Hey!" Erza waved, carrying her usual belongings.

"Erza-san!" Wendy smiled over to the scarlet mage.

"How's your training going?" Erza asked, smiling slightly.

"It's going…it's just going," Lucy chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of her head.

"How are you feeling, Natsu?" Erza asked her tone a bit more serious.

"Tch, still pissed if you're asking about that," Natsu pounded his fist into an open palm, frowning. "I wanna get that Sidney guy and that entire guild back!"

"Well…you shouldn't really pick a fight in a guild where you're outnumbered…" Cynthia started, looking down at the ground to avoid Natsu's gaze. "And you shouldn't accept a punishment you don't even know about…I was about to lose it just from watching that…"

"I…I'm sorry…" Natsu looked down a bit, shaking his head. He wasn't going to admit what he did was reckless, but he did accept the fact the least he could've done was ask about the punishment.

"I'm just glad you're okay, Natsu-san," Wendy nodded slowly, rubbing her left arm with a small smile.

"The next time I see any of those jerks I'll pound them!" Natsu nodded to himself, the idea already set in his head; there was no changing his mind about it now.

"There he goes…" Lucy sighed.

Erza decided to travel back to Fairy Tail along with Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and Cynthia. A thought then popped into Natsu's head, causing him to grin slightly. "Oi! Erza!" Natsu stepped forward, grinning with excitement. "It's been a long time since we've had a fight, right!?"

"I believe so…" Erza nodded slowly.

"FIGHT ME!" Natsu grinned at his words.

"You want to fight?" Erza raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"YEAH!" Natsu nodded twice, grinning. "I'm gonna beat you this time!"

"Alright, Natsu," A bright white heavenly light surrounded Erza as she entered her Giant's armor, the next thing she did was grab Natsu by his collar and slam him into the wall.

"W-WAIT!" Natsu groaned from being slammed against the wall and flailed his arms. "N-Not right now tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Erza raised an eyebow, then released Natsu, nodding. "Sure, tomorrow sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Erza's gonna fight Natsu tomorrow…? OH!" Cynthia clapped her hands together and grinned. "I know it's gonna be a big fight, so how about we tell everyone and hold a big festival!"

"A festival?" Wendy pondered the thought for a moment before nodding. "YEAH!"

"Please, Erza-san!?" The two girls asked in unison with puppy dog eyes which Erza couldn't find the heart to say no to.

"Yes, we can hold a festival," Erza smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"YAY!" Cynthia ran inside Fairy Tail, gathering everyone's attention. "Everyone, there's going to be a big festival in the town square for Natsu vs. Erza!"

"Natsu's gonna fight Erza?" Gray couldn't help but laugh a little. "He's gonna lose, again."

"YOU WANNA GO RIGHT NOW UNDERPANTS?!" Natsu stormed into the guild, immediately going forehead to forehead with Gray.

"LETS GO, PINKY!" Gray and Natsu were glaring into each other's eyes, much similar to what Cynthia was referring to during the White Eclipse Dinner.

"They fight over such pointless things…and I bet they make an amazing team…" Cynthia thought to herself, smiling slightly. Word of the upcoming festival spread around town quickly. Luke was in town shopping during all of the commotion, and decided to spread the news to White Eclipse about the festival. "A festival!" Luke nodded. "It seems Natsu is gonna face off against Erza, or something."

"Natsu vs. Erza, huh?" Reve leaned back in a chair, his hands behind his head and his feet propped up on a small table.

"A festival sounds like fun!" Kuro gave his usual cheerful nodded as he consumed a bowl of noodles.

"You guys can go," Selene said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Aw, not coming, Selena?" Reve asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm not big on those festival things," Selene replied, shrugging off Reve's comment.

"I bet those Fairy Tail guys are still mad at us though," Kuro said with a small frown.

"They have no right to be," Taya chimed in, stepping out of the kitchen. "From what I heard, Salamander accepted the punishment, lost, and took it, yes?"

"Well, you know Sidney…" Luke replied, unsure on why he was giving Natsu any kind of defense at all.

"Doesn't matter," Taya replied. "If he's mad at us for what he did, that's not our problem."

"Taya's got a point," Reve chuckled. "Sidney showed him a thing or two anyway. So, who all is going along to this festival, because I know I am. Seeing Titania in action will be interesting, to say the least."

"Oh, oh, I'll go!" Kuro grinned.

"Me too!" Nami replied with a cheeky smile.

"I guess I have to go then…" Taya sighed, wanting to keep a watchful eye on her sister; but the idea of a festival was rather appealing in the back of her head.

"Heh, I think I'll go," Luke replied. "A fight sounds pretty good, so why not?"

"I'm sure anyone else who wants to go can catch up before it's over. Until then, let's get some rest. I have a feeling it's gonna be one hell of a festival." Reve nodded, heading up into his room for the day.


	35. Chapter 35: Fairy Tail Festival!

The heart of Magnolia town was buzzing with excitement. Today was the day of the festival, which would ultimately end with Natsu facing off against Erza. The festival had everything, rides, food, games; it was bigger than anyone would've originally thought. "WHOA…" Cynthia's eyes widened at the sight of all the people, sights, just everything. "I've never seen anything like THIS before…!"

"Amazing, right!?" Wendy grinned, taking Cynthia's hand. "C'mon, let's look at all the fun stuff there is to do!" Wendy then led Cynthia into the heart of the festival, keeping a tight grip on her hand so she wouldn't get separated and lost.

"They really went all out…" Lucy gazed at all the sights, unsure on which one she should drag Natsu to first.

"There's some time to kill…" Erza walked around the festival area until her eyes hit the cake stand. "!" Erza's hair fell so that it created a shadow over her eyes; she grinned as a twinkle appeared in the shadow of her eyes.

Head Captain Lahar of the Magic Council was watching over the festival from a high point, along with a few Council guards in case some villain attempted to disturb the peace. Lahar took of his glasses to clean then quickly, and then placed them back on his face, scanning the festival area for any sighs of suspicious activity. "Nothing yet…" Lahar said with a relieved sigh. Secretly, Lahar volunteered to watch over the festival in case the person they were looking for happened to show up, allowing him an easy capture with hopefully little interference. Lahr slowly scanned the area again when something caught his attention. A young female with black hair dragged along by a little girl with blue hair held up with small animal like attachments. "What…?" Normally he would let this go by, but something about the girl being dragged was different. "Could it be…?" Lahar blinked; a fatal mistake as he lost sight of the two girls. He shook his head slowly, but he wanted to be sure. "You," he pointed to a group of two Council guards. "Go investigate down there. A person the Council is desperately looking for may be down there."

"Yes, sir," the two council guards nodded and went down into the festival.

"What would she be doing here…?" Lahar thought to himself as he stared down at the crowded festival grounds intently.

"This way!" Wendy dragged Cynthia over to the Ferris wheel, grinning.

"What is that thing…?" Cynthia looked up at the large wheel, feeling slightly woozy. "And why do I feel sick just looking at it…" Cynthia shook the odd feeling off and stepped into the kart, sitting next to Wendy. "I've never been in a Ferris wheel before…"

"It's fun!" Wendy nodded, a childish grin appearing on her face as the Ferris wheel slowly started moving.

"I don't see h-" Cynthia cut herself off to gag, her face turning pale. "W-What the…what's going on…my stomach…it feels horrible…" Cynthia put her arms around her stomach as she slouched in her chair.

"Cynthia…?" Wendy looked over at Cynthia with a confused look; then it hit her. "Oh…that's right…"

"What's right…? Am I dying…?" Cynthia gagged, throwing her head to the side in case she was going to throw up. "I feel HORRIBLE…" She groaned loudly as the Ferris wheel continued to move.

"Motion sickness…" Wendy placed her hands on Cynthia, casting a Troia spell, temporarily ridding Cynthia of the motion sickness.

"GAH!" Cynthia panted heavily as she caught her breath. "That was horrible! Why me!?"

"It's not just you," Wendy replied. "It's every Dragon Slayer out there."

"I'M NOT ALONE!" Cynthia's grinned from ear to ear, bringing her hand up to her mouth as she gave a soft giggle.

.

.

Back on the ground, Cana had found the bar, and grinned. She waltzed over, preparing to take a shot when Jack Royal sat down next to her grinning. "Oi, it's you again," Cana said with a slight smirk, remembering their draw from the other day.

"That's right, I figured I'd find ya here," Jack replied.

"A rematch?" Cana's smirk widened, "You got lucky last time."

Jack laughed before shaking his head, "Uh, no. You see, I went into that last one mostly drunk, so it's no surprised we tied."

"You're bluffing!" Cana frowned slightly, the idea that Jack is either telling the truth or bluffing upsetting her.

"Am I? I'm all sobered up right now, so how about you put your beer where your mouth is?" Jack replied, pouring himself a shot.

"You're on!" Cana immediately downed her shot, thus starting the drinking contest.

Luke, Reve, Taya, Nami, Kuro, Jaxon, Cygnus, Zalen, Waiston and even Sidney made their way to the festival, almost immediately breaking off and heading off to separate events. They really didn't care if they ran into any of the Fairies. But something caught Luke and Zalen's attention; two Council guards walked past the two, looking around and muttering to themselves. "Council guards?" Luke whispered over to Zalen.

"Are you really surprised?" Zalen asked while looking over at Luke with a semi amused expression. "It's not really too surprising that the Council has some guards around here."

"I know that," Luke replied. "But look," Luke pointed to the stationed Council guards around the festival. "None of those guards are down here…something seems weird about this…" Luke sighed.

"Don't worry about it," Zalen shrugged. "We're here to have fun, right?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Luke nodded, dashing off to some festival game.

The Ferris wheel finally stopped after a while, and Cynthia wobbled out, sighing. "How long does that spell last?" She asked Wendy.

"Oh, for a while," Wendy replied as she followed Cynthia out.

"Well…until then, we should get on it again!" A childish grin appeared on Cynthia's face at the idea; the grin slowly faded as she looked to her right, looking at the backs of passing Council guards. "Huh?"

"Council guards," Wendy replied, her head tilting from confusion. "Why are they down here…?"

"Who knows…?" Cynthia shrugged, dragging Wendy into the Ferris wheel again, the two girls laughing a bit.

The results of Cana and Jack's drinking contest was clear; Cana was on the ground, passed out while Jack was still going, his cheeks flushed red from alcohol. "What's wrong, lightweight?" Jack asked in a mocking tone, hiccupping after he spoke. "Too much alcohol?" Cana was too wasted to respond, she just laid on her back with swirls in her eyes while Jack continued to drink. A few hours passed, and the festival slowly started dying down. Natsu and Erza made their way to the middle of the festival, gathering everyone's attention.

"It's time!" Lucy clapped her hands together excitedly as Natsu and Erza stood apart.

"I already know how this match is going to go…" Gray scoffed slightly, leaning back in a seat.

"GO NATSU!" Happy waved his arms around before eating a fish, causing Carla to sigh somewhat.

"Are you ready, Natsu?" Erza asked.

"More than ready! I'm fired up!" Natsu grinned, pounding his fist into an open palm, smirking widely, "I'm gonna beat you this time!"

"Go Natsu-san!" Wendy cheered from the sidelines, along with Cynthia.

"You finally get to see her fight, Reve," Taya said.

"I bet it won't be too impressive," Reve replied, smirking slightly at the fact Titania was defeated by a no name dark guild master.

"Only one way to find out," Zalen fixed his glasses, eying the two fighters.

"Kanso!" A bright heavenly light surrounded Erza's body as she requipped into her Giant's armor. "Come, Natsu!"

"LET'S GO!" Natsu pulled his fist back, sprinting forward at Erza. "GET READY!" Erza pulled her own fist back, and when Natsu was close, she slammed her fist onto his head, slamming Natsu into the ground, the force so great it caused a crater.

"My god is she trying to give him brain damage?!" Taya nearly shouted, clearly shocked at Titania's aggressiveness. Natsu was on the ground, laying in knock out.

"She took him out in one hit!?" Cynthia gasped.

"That's not too surprising when you look at how hard she hit him…" Lisanna bit her lip slightly. "Now imagine if she was angry…" The thought caused all the Fairy Tail members in the stand to shake, even Cynthia, and she wasn't even sure why.

"Well…that was a little quicker than I thought it would be…" Erza coughed awkwardly. "Uh…does anyone else want to take Natsu's place?"

"…Going in," Reve hopped over the railing, stepping in front of Erza while Lucy dragged Natsu away.

"Go Reve!" Kuro grinned and cheered happily.

"You…?" Erza shook her head slowly, "Not surprising."

"Kick his butt, Erza!" Lucy shouted while she raised her hand high, pointing her index finger and thumb out, along with a few other Fairy Tail members.

Cynthia tilted her head slowly, blinking. "What…What is that?"

"What is what?" Wendy asked while she was doing the signature Fairy Tail hand symbol.

"That!" Cynthia pointed to Wendy's hand, mimicking the same action with her right hand. "What is that supposed to be, and why is everyone doing it?"

"This is the Fairy Tail symbol!" Wendy nodded, grinning widely.

"What's it mean?" Cynthia asked.

"No matter how far you are, I will always be watching over you," Laxus replied, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"L-Laxus-san!?" Wendy jumped a bit from Laxus's sudden appearance.

"I wanted to get a good seat for this fight, and I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," Laxus leaned back in his seat, starting to drown out everything else with his headphones.

"Are you ready, Titania?" Reve smirked as two pistols manifested into his hands.

"Of course, Reve," Erza replied, nodding slowly.

"Kick her butt, Reve!" Waiston shouted.

"Wait!" Kuro waved his arms around frantically, signaling everyone nearby to back up. "He uses bullets! Be careful!"

"Let's dance, Titania!" Reve took aim at Erza, aiming his assault rifles as he unleashed a seemingly endless stream of magical bullets in Erza's direction.

"Kanso!" Erza changed into her Flgith Armor, now having an exponential speed boost, as she dashed from side to side in a zig zag pattern, avoiding Reve's first stream. Reve smirked, using his quick, highly trained eyes to keep pace with Erza's speed.

"Nice try, Titania!" Reve followed Erza's movements easily, shifting his assault rifles to match Erza's movements. When Erza was struck, she let out a loud scream of pain.

"Erza!" Lucy shouted out, surprised that Reve was able to keep up with her.

"Keep up, Titania!" Reve said in a mocking tone as he continued his endless stream, causing a large smoke cloud to appear. When the smoke cleared, Erza was in her Adamantine Armor, successfully blocking the rest of the bullets.

"You're the one who should keep up," Erza quickly changed into her Flight armor once more, using the speed to fly forward, pulling her fist back. She then changed into her Giant's Armor, slugging Reve across the face with her fist, causing everyone to cringe as Reve flew back across the ground on his back.

"I heard that one…" Luke muttered.

"I felt that…" Cynthia said, rubbing her jaw.

"That almost made me wince…" Sidney said.

Reve hopped up, a large closed vest appearing his chest as she pulled out two sawn off shot guns. "We'll see about that!" Reve ran forward, firing off his dual shotguns at Erza, catching Erza off guard as she requiped into her Flame Empress Armor, causing her to slide back.

"Erza look out!" Levy flailed her arms around as Reve continued his onslaught.

Erza heard Levy, but she didn't show it as she gripped her red sword and charged forward, raising it over her head as she swung down at Reve; luckily for the guns mage, he saw this coming, so he rolled off to Erza's left, firing off a near point blank shot at Erza, but Erza blocked the shots with her sword, swinging down at Reve once again. The flaming sword grazed against Reve's leg, causing the black haired male to grit his teeth as he let out a hiss of pain; when Reve stood up, his pant leg was clearly burned, and his leg injury was visible.

"She got him!" Lucy grinned, hopping up and down on her feet. "You got this, Erza!"

"Reve…" Taya watched the fight intently, looking directly at Reve's injured leg.

"This is nothing," Reve smirked standing perfectly straight as though the wound wasn't even there.

"Hn…" Cynthia frowned slightly.

"What's wrong, Cynthia?" Wendy asked.

"She's only hit him once…and he's hit her a buncha times…" Cynthia muttered.

"Try this!" Erza dashed forward, pulling her flame sword back; this time she swung it horizontally at Reve's chest. Reve ducked, smirking as he twirled both shot guns in his hands before pointing them at Erza's stomach. "Burst Shot," Reve clicked the trigger, sending a burst of magical bullets at Erza's stomach, landing a direct hit, causing the famous Titania to fly into the air.

"E-Erza!" Lucy gasped slightly; Reve was a lot stronger than she thought.

"Kanso!" Erza flipped, changing into her Lightning Empress Armor, using the spear to support her landing as she leaned on it, panting heavily.

"Heh, so it's pretty easy to get Titania in this state?" Reve said with a mocking tone, beckoning Erza to come forward in a blind rage; his attempt worked. Erza would not be made a weakling in front of her guildmates.

"I'll show you!" Erza dashed forward, leaning to the right as Reve shot at her; Erza then twirled her spear around before aiming it right at Reve, landing a direct hit as the electricity flowed through his body, causing Reve to shout from the pain and take a few steps back, panting heavily.

"You won't get another hit like that…" Reve said through a few short breaths. Reve dropped the two shot guns in his hands, reached into his jacket, and pulled out two more, smirking. "Let's keep going," Reve smirked.

"I couldn't agree more!" Erza changed into her Black Wing Armor, and used it to its full advantage, flying into the air as Reve shot at her once more. She planned to get in close and slash at his chest, but Reve's deadly accuracy made her plan a little harder than she would've liked. "Tch…" Reve used his quick eyes to the best of its ability, firing off multiple magical bullets that spread out into the air, knowing one would hit Erza eventually. Erza did her best to dodge, flying from side to side as the bullets flew past her, whizzing past her ears at one point. One bullet got lucky and struck Erza's left wing, causing her to spiral out of control.

"Erza!" Lisanna gasped as Erza was heading for a crash landing.

"Go Reve!" The White Eclipse members shouted, grinning.

Erza smirked, quickly shifting all her weight to the right as she turned around, heading for a nose dive towards Reve. "What the…" Reve aimed his shot guns forward, shooting at Erza, but she was blocking them with her large sword, which vanished quickly as she changed yet again, only this time into her Morning Star armor, pointing her twin swords at Reve. "Photon Slicer!" Reve was unable to dodge the large blast that consumed him, as noted by his loud scream. When the explosion cleared, Reve was panting heavily, down his knees, his shirt torn, revealing only a few of the bruises on his chest.

"She got him that time!" Wendy grinned, throwing her fist up in a cheering motion.

"It's time to finish this," Erza requipped once again, only this time she was wearing nothing but cloth around her breasts, pants and her hair was tied in a ponytail, wielding a single sword in her hands.

"Heh…It is, isn't it?" Reve smirked, opening his jacket. "Devils Wheel!" A multitude of guns started to appear around Erza within seconds. In three seconds, ninety guns appeared around Titania.

"He was playing her…!" Luke gasped at Reve's clever move.

"Reve's been practicing…he used to only be able to make forty…" Zalen commented.

"K-Kanso!" Erza quickly changed into her Heaven's Wheel armor, creating an equal amount of swords to match the guns; the swords clashed with the guns, creating a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, allowing visibility, both Erza and Reve had miscounted. A sword flew from the smoke, striking Reve in his lower left side, while a gun struck Erza in her arm, causing her to fall to her knees as blood dripped from her arm.

"GAH!" Reve shouted, pulling the sword out of his side, allowing it to fade away as he gripped his now bleeding side. He was panting, he could feel his magic low, and he was relying on the Devil's Wheel to defeat Erza. The spectators remained silent; the battle was reaching its high point. "I'm not done yet…" Reve requiped his final gun, a magnum with six chambers, containing all the magic power he had remaining. Erza changed one final time as well, into her Armadura Fairy, showing her pride as a member of Fairy Tail, twin swords appearing in her hands. Reve clicked the trigger, sending a large bullet about one fourth the size of the battle field in Titania's direction. "One…"

"That's one large bullet…" Cynthia whispered.

Erza charged at the large bullet, raising her swords high and swung them down, clashing with the bullet, entering a struggle. The scarlet flower of Fairy Tail grit her teeth, obviously having some trouble with the bullet; a few seconds passed before Erza cut through the first bullet, continuing her charge towards Reve.

"Tch…" Reve let out a low growl as he aimed at Titania once again. His highly trained eye was gone at this point in the match, and he had to rely on himself as he clicked the trigger once again, aiming another bullet. "Two…"

Erza raised her swords once again, growling lowly as she found she was having more difficulty with the second bullet than the first. A few seconds passed, and she eventually cut through it. "Two…"

Erza was starting to get to Reve; she was actually counting. Reve clicked the trigger again, sending the third bullet. "Three…!"

"There's no way she can make it…she still has three more shots to make it through…" Luke said quietly, watching Erza's struggle intently.

Erza raised her swords once again, clashing with the third bullet. She almost found herself blown away, but she managed to cut through it, halfway there. "Three!"

Reve stayed silent, panting heavily. He wasn't going to allow Erza to make it through. Reve ran forward to Erza, and just before he reached, he spun around, now behind her. "Four," Reve pointed the magnum at Erza's back, releasing the bullet. Erza let out a loud scream as a large dust cloud picked up from the attack. When the smoke cleared, Erza was on the ground, a large hole in her armor, and her back was stained scarlet red with blood.

"E-ERZA!" Levy screamed out.

Reve panted, watching Erza intently. Erza slowly stood up, panting heavily; but the pain was too much to bear, she let out a bloodcurdling scream and she fell over, leaving Reve to smirk. "Heh…" Reve turned around, walking over to the railing to support himself.

"S-Someone HELP HER!" Levy screamed.

"Erza…" Freed watched from the sidelines.

Erza laid on the ground, in defeat? She thought about how her guild mates always looked up to her, and how she let them down once already. She just forgave herself for the embarrassing defeat, and she vowed to never let her guild mates down ever again. Erza slowly rose to her feet, gripping her twin swords as blood oozed down her back.

"W-What!? That's impossible!" Zalen shouted in shock.

"Reve, turn around!" Kuro flailed his arms around.

"There's no way…!" Luke's eyes widened as Erza Scarlet slowly rose to her feet, stumbling slightly.

"That's Erza for you! Come on, keep going!" Lucy cheered, hopping up and down from her seat.

"What are you talking about…?" Reve turned around, his eyes widening from pure shock as Erza stood up. "No…that's impossible…"

"Where's bullet number five, Reve!?" Erza asked, panting heavily.

"RIGHT HERE!" Reve heard the voices from his guild mates cheering him on, so he took a few steps forward before aiming his magnum at Erza once again, firing off a large bullet. Erza ran forward, but instead of clashing with the bullet, she shifted her body weight to the left, avoiding it completely, much to Reve's surprise. Erza then raised her swords, and in a fluid motion, slashed across Reve's chest, causing blood to fly form the cut as Erza stood with her back turned to him.

"Six…" As Reve fell back, he clicked the trigger one last time, releasing the last bullet, causing Erza to scream out as she flew into the stands; both fighters laid, unable to move. The match was a draw.

"Whoa…That…was…AWESOME…" Cynthia clapped slowly, unable to believe the battle she witnessed.

"Reve!" The White Eclipse member rushed to Reve, lifting him up slowly. "Are you okay!?" Zalen asked. Reve only groaned slightly in response; he was near passing out.

"Where's Taya…" Reve murmured.

"She left…" Waiston replied. Reve stayed silent as he was bandaged up.

"Amazing fight…" Lahar thought to himself as he scanned the stands in search of someone.

"Erza-san!" Wendy rushed over to Erza, placing her hands over the scarlet flower as she began to heal her injuries, the large bloodstained wound on her back slowly closing.

"That fight was AMAZING!" Cynthia replied. Cynthia was buzzing about the entire fight as she and Wendy supported Erza out of the festival grounds.

As Lahar scanned the area, he caught a glimpse of a particular shade of black hair he was told about. "Huh?!" Lahar attempted to move closer, but the crowd of people impeded his progress, so he sighed. "Was that…?"


	36. Chapter 36: Job Preparation

"WHOA! REVE! What happened to you!?" Was Selene's first question as Reve was led into White Eclipse by Zalen and Jack.

"He fought Erza!" Luke replied.

"You fought Erza?" Selene raised an eyebrow, and then quickly shouted for Aira.

"Tch…I couldn't beat her…" Reve started walking on his own, sitting down on a chair.

"You lost…?" Selene stopped, sensing the sheer disappointment in Reve's voice.

"It was a draw!" Kuro exclaimed. "And he did amazing! Stop beating yourself up, Reve!"

"Tch…" Was Reve's only reply. "Where's Taya?"

"She's not here right now..." Selene replied, noticing the slightly upset tone in Reve's voice. "Did something happen...?"

"She wasn't there when I needed her to be," Reve replied, walking right into his room.

"She left during the battle..." Waiston replied. "Everyone else stayed put, I guess he really wanted her to be there."

.

.

Lucy opened the door to Fairy Tail, placing Natsu in a chair, sighing. "Natsu…"

Cynthia was still buzzing about the fight, going over every detail, finishing with; "And that fight was the best one I've ever SEEN!"

Erza frowned as she walked in, limping just a little as she held her arm, thinking to herself how she wasn't able to defeat Reve. "Hn…"

"What's wrong, Erza-san…?" Wendy looked up at Erza with a slightly concerned expression.

"It's nothing, don't worry," Erza gave a false smile as she limped to a chair, sitting down.

Natsu finally started to wake up, rubbing his head. "O-Ow…my head…" He groaned, wincing when he tapped a particular spot on his head.

Gray couldn't help but muster a small laugh, "Finally away, eh?"

"What happened…?" Natsu looked around, his vision a little blurry.

"You got one hit ko'ed by Erza!" Cynthia started. "Then Reve stepped in and they had the MOST INTENSE BATTLE EVER!"

"Wait, what!? I got one hit ko'ed!?" Natsu groaned, and then perked his head back up at the mention of Reve. "Erza won, right!?"

"Well…actually…" Lucy started. "It was a tie…"

"WHAT!?" Natsu shouted in disbelief.

"Well, it's obvious who's stronger," Gray shrugged, smirking just slightly.

"YOU WANNA GO UNDERPANTS?!" Natsu glared over at Gray.

"Pssh, you wish you could take me, Squinty eyes!" And with Gray's comment, the two started to fight once again, only this time Natsu was at a disadvantage because of his head injury.

"There they go AGAIN…" Cynthia sighed.

"It gets old…fast…" Wendy sighed. "Oh! Cynthia!"

"Yes?" Cynthia looked over at Wendy with a small smile.

"Do you want to go on a job with me?" Wendy asked hopefully.

"A job? SURE!" Cynthia's face lit up with excitement. "It'll be my first one too…wow…I haven't been a good guild member, have I?"

"Nonsense!" Wendy led Cynthia over to the request board, looking at all the possible jobs. "You've been a great member! We just need to find something for you to do!" The two girls scanned the request board, at one point, they accidentally head-butted each other, squealing a little from the pain.

"P-Pain…" Cynthia groaned slightly, bringing her left hand up to hold her head.

"S-Sorry…" Wendy shook off the pain and noticed a job that caught her eye. "Huh?" Wendy pulled the paper from the request board and started to read it.

"What's it say?" Cynthia asked, peering over Wendy's shoulder.

"It says: DRAGON SLAYERS NEEDED, and to head to a town called Newmore…" Wendy nodded slowly.

"You think it could be something dangerous…?" Cynthia looked up at Wendy with a worried expression.

"If it is, I'm coming with you two," Carla interrupted, revealing that she was eavesdropping on the two the entire time.

"C-Carla!" Wendy jumped slightly from the exceed's sudden appearance.

"Wendy, if it's a dangerous job, I have to go with you," Carla responded.

"I can take care of Wendy just fine!" Cynthia nodded.

"It's my job to protect Wendy, Cynthia," Carla said as she turned to the female, shaking her head.

"You can take a break! C'mon, we can handle ourselves!" Cynthia nodded again; grinning, unaware of the fact Carla didn't trust her. Carla simply stayed silent as Wendy gave her an innocent look.

"Please, Carla?" Wendy asked with the cutest tone she could muster.

A minute passed before Carla released a defeated sigh. "Fine…"

"YAY!" The girls squealed from excitement in unison.

"Let's leave tomorrow, okay?" Wendy suggested.

"Fine with me!" Cynthia grinned.

"Mira-san!" Wendy walked up to the bar where Mirajane was, waving the request in front of her. "Cynthia and I are taking this job for tomorrow!"

"Alright, be safe, you two!" Mirajane nodded with a warm smile.

.

.

The following morning, Wendy was standing outside Fairy Tail with her usual outfit in X791, while Cynthia was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a short sleeved shirt red shirt along with blue boots, and her black hair was tied back into a ponytail. "Where do we need to go first?" Cynthia asked, adjusting her ponytail as she looked over at Wendy.

"First we need to go to the train station," Wendy nodded, leading the way to the station

"Wait...trains…trains move…" Cynthia's faced turned pale at the thought of riding a train. "Can't we…walk…? Please…?" Cynthia pleaded.

"If you want to take four more hours than you should…" Wendy sighed.

"…That doesn't sound too bad…" Cynthia said to herself, preferring walking over riding any sort of transportation. After a bit of walking the two made their way to the train station, and hopped on the train that would lead them to Newmore. Wendy took her seat next to Cynthia, and the train departed. "Ugh…" Cynthia's face turned pale as the train started moving and she lay down, resting her head on Wendy's lap. "Make it stop, please…"

"I would cast Troia again…but you would eventually build up immunity to it…" Wendy sighed, frowning as she started regretting her decision to use Troia on Cynthia during the festival.

"WHAT!? It works like that!? NO FAIR!" Cynthia groaned, shifting around uncomfortably on Wendy's lap.

"I know…we're gonna be on this train for a few hours too…" Wendy placed her hand on Cynthia's stomach, starting to massage it, hopefully giving a little relief to Cynthia. "Is that helping…?"

"A little…Still feel horrible…" Cynthia groaned once more as the train departed.

Little did these girls know the true purpose of the job they so happily accepted. This job was the beginning of the end of Fairy Tail.


	37. Chapter 37: Target Locked

At the station in Newmore, the train slowly slid to a stop after several hours of traveling. "We're here!" Wendy grinned, assisting the motion sick Cynthia off the train.

"Oh sweet ground…!" Cynthia placed her hands on the pavement ground, panting heavily. "I don't want to ride another train for as long as I live!"

"…We have to ride it back…" Wendy mumbled.

"….WAAAAAAHHH!" Cynthia wailed for a few seconds before clearing her through and regaining her composure. "I'm okay now. So, which way are we going?" Cynthia asked, looking around the train station.

"Uh…" Wendy looked at the request once again, pointing in the direction with a rural path. "That way, I think."

"Uhm…" Cynthia pointed in the opposite direction where there was a stone path. "Pretty sure we should go that way."

"Noo…" Wendy stubbornly kept her finger in place, gesturing with her head the correct direction to walk in. "This way…it makes sense…"

"How!?" Cynthia flailed. "Stone paths always lead to cities or towns!"

"Where did you hear that!?" Wendy shouted, keeping her finger still.

"…Places!" Cynthia nodded. "I say it's this way." Cynthia said as she turned her back to Wendy.

"Well I say it's this way!" Wendy turned her back to Cynthia, the two staying in an awkwardly silence for a few minutes. Eventually the two girls peeked over their shoulders before turning around slowly, both letting out a defeated sigh. "I guess we could try that way," Wendy said, pointing her finger to the stone path.

"That way doesn't sound too bad either…" Cynthia replied as she pointed to the rural path.

"We should've bought a map…" Wendy groaned.

"No kidding…" Cynthia started down the stone path with Wendy following behind. "What do you think this job is about?"

"Well…there aren't many details…" Wendy sighed. "It says details will be given when we arrive at the place."

"What place?" Cynthia asked, looking over at Wendy.

"Well…it says at the edge of town there's a house…I think that's the requester's house!" Wendy nodded a few times.

"Gosh…we're going to get home so late tonight…" Cynthia sighed as she looked up at the setting sun. "That train ride literally felt like it was taking forever…I didn't think I would survive…"

"Oh…I'm glad I was able to help a little bit," Wendy smiled a little.

"You were the reason I survived," Cynthia gave a small smile as the two arrived on the outskirts of town. "Is this it…?" Cynthia scoped out the area, noticing the large town in the distance.

"Looks like it…" Wendy looked around, searching the area for a house. "I don't see the house though…"

"Up there!" Cynthia pointed to a semi large hill on the eastern part of the outskirts. "I see it!" Cynthia then grabbed Wendy's hand, pulling her over to the house with delight. The house was one story, small on the outside, and the roof looked as though it had gone through many repairs and was falling apart once again.

"This is the place…?" Wendy blinked.

"It IS on the outskirts of town…right?" Cynthia shrugged, letting her hair down. She then moved forward, using her knuckles to knock on the door nice and clearly. "Hello? We're here for the job?" A few minutes passed before the door slowly opened, an old male with white hair that came down to his neck, covering the sides of his face, beat up blue jeans, and a white shirt answered the door, his eyes widening just slightly.

"W-Wendy…" The old male said.

"Huh…?" Wendy blinked, looking up at the male. "You know my name…?

"U-Uh, yes, I do! Wendy Marvell, the girl who competed on Fairy Tail's team in the Grand Magic Games! I saw your performance and thought you were absolutely wonderful!" The male replied, smiling warmly at the two.

"Oh, that makes sense! Thank you!" Wendy blushed a little from the sudden praise.

"Please, come in, come in!" The old man ushered the two inside and sat on a chair, letting the two girls take the old beat up couch. "I assume you're here for the job, yes?"

"That's right!" Cynthia replied, playing with her hair.

"Excellent, it's really simple," the old man replied, taking out a note pad. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions about you Dragon Slayers and your abilities and all, and you'll be on your way."

"That's it? Huh, okay!" Cynthia grinned slightly.

"First question…what generation are you two?" the old man asked, a writing utensil in his hands.

"First Generation Sky Dragon Slayer," Wendy replied, a faint smile forming on her lips as she rested her hands on the cushion.

"The generation taught by dragon's themselves, yes?" The male asked.

"Mhm…I was taught by Grandine…" Wendy frowned a bit, realizing she had yet to find her foster mother.

"What about you…?" The male turned his attention over to Cynthia, who shifted around a bit uncomfortably.

"Second Generation Omega Flame Dragon Slayer," Cynthia nodded slowly.

"Second Generation…" The male pondered for a second before asking. "The generation who had lacrima implanted in them…?"

"Y-Yes…" Cynthia bit her lip, the subject starting to feel uncomfortable to her.

"Who implanted his lacrima in you, if I may ask?" The male asked with an innocent, curious look.

"I-I'd rather not say…" Cynthia averted her eyes, and somehow gave the old man the answer he needed.

"I see…well, I just wanted to see what kind of Dragon Slayers were out in this world, and I'm glad you two came by." The old man handed Wendy a bag of jewels.

"That's it…?" Wendy asked, tilting her head.

"Of course! Now go on, you two have a good night!" The old man led Wendy and Cynthia out the door, and closed it behind them. A few seconds passed and the old man took off his costume, revealing himself to be Doranbolt, a leader of a division of the rune knights in the magic council. "I found her…" Doranbolt said into a lacrima.

"Will you need assistance?" A voice asked through the lacrima.

"No, this will be quick and easy," Doranbolt replied.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Wendy asked as she held the jewels in her hand. "We got quite a lot of jewels too…"

"I just feel that was pretty lack luster since we have to go on that train again…" Cynthia sighed, lowering her head. A second passed and she looked up again, yelping at the sight of Doranbolt, who was in front of them. "W-Who are you!?"

"D-Doranbolt…?" Wendy took a step back, mostly surprised by Doranbolt's presence in front of them. "Why are you here?"

"I came to take someone into custody, Wendy," Doranbolt replied.

"So why are you here…?" Wendy asked again, narrowing her eyes.

Doranbolt pulled out magic sealing cuffs, eying Cynthia as he began to speak, "I have to thank you Wendy, you lured the most dangerous female in all of Fiore out of hiding, and into the hands of the Magic Council. I'll be sure to let Fairy Tail have some leeway if they get in trouble with the Council again." Doranbolt walked towards Cynthia with the cuffs in his hands.

"I- I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Cynthia protested, taking a step back.

"It's for the safety of everyone in Fiore; again, thank you Wendy," Doranbolt moved in to slap the magic sealing cuffs on Cynthia, but a fist struck his nose, causing him to stumble back a few steps, his eyes widening when he saw his attacker. "!"

Wendy stood in front of Cynthia with her fist extended, glaring deeply into Doranbolt's eyes. "Don't. Touch. Cynthia."


	38. Chapter 38: Vs The Council (Part 1)

"W-Wendy!?" Doranbolt's eyes widened as he rubbed his nose, looking at Wendy; who just attacked him.

"Wendy…" Cynthia was as surprised as Doranbolt.

"What are you doing!? This girl is a danger to all of Fiore!" Doranbolt shouted, shaking the hit off.

"No, she's not," Wendy replied. "Cynthia is a nice girl, who cares about everyone!" Wendy protested. "She's a proud member of Fairy Tail, and my best friend, and she is in NO way a threat to anyone!"

"W-Wendy…" Cynthia was touched by Wendy's words, a gentle smile appearing on her face.

"Wendy…I'm going to give you one last chance…step out of my way…or I will have to use force against you…" Doranbolt had to force himself to say the last part, but he intended to follow through with it if he had to; he had a job as a member of the Magic Council to complete.

"Well, you're going to have to fight me to get to Cynthia!" Wendy didn't budge from Doranbolt's threat. Suddenly, several red magic circles appeared around Doranbolt, unleashing red fire that exploded on contact, creating a smoke cloud.

"Wendy, come on!" Cynthia grabbed Wendy's hand and ran off in a random direction.

"Where are we going!?" Wendy asked, looking back to see if Doranbolt was trailing behind them.

"Away!" Cynthia replied, running as fast as she could to drag Wendy away from any Magic Council members.

Doranbolt coughed a few times as the smoke cleared. "Just as they said…" Doranbolt placed himself in a running position. "Forgive me, Wendy. Direct Line!" Doranbolt vanished, appearing right in front of Cynthia and Wendy.

"W-WHAT!? How did he-!?" Cynthia jumped, immediately turning to run the other way.

"I have to do this," Doranbolt said, quickly reaching out for Cynthia's hand.

"NO!" Wendy pulled her arm back, a small light blue cyclone of wind forming around her hand as she threw it forward. "Sky Dragon's Claw!" Doranbolt let out a surprised gasp as Wendy's attack nearly struck him; luckily, he moved to the right just in time, avoiding her fist. "Yah!" Wendy quickly removed her hand from Cynthia's, punching Doranbolt square in the chest, forcing him to stumble back and fall onto his back. "Let's go!" Wendy grabbed Cynthia's hand again and ran off in a different direction.

"W-Wendy…why are you protecting me…you're in so much trouble right now…" Cynthia mumbled softly.

"You're my best friend, and a member of Fairy Tail," Wendy replied. You're family, and I'm not letting family be taken away for such silly reasons! You're not a threat to anyone; you're just a sweet girl!"

"I…" Cynthia wasn't objecting, but she couldn't find anything to say to Wendy's words. "Thank you…"

"Anything for family," Wendy replied. She then let out a surprised "AHH!" When her hand and Cynthia's were suddenly pulled apart; Cynthia slid back a few feet, feeling a threatening presence behind her. "Behind you!" Wendy shouted, gasping.

"YAH!" Close range combat was Cynthia's expertise, she shifted her body weight onto her left heel, spinning 360 degrees to the right, quickly aiming her right leg in a roundhouse towards Doranbolt, but he quickly evaded the kick by using his impressive speed to launch into the air.

Wendy quickly gathered air into her mouth, puffed her cheeks out, and threw her head forward, unleashing a Sky Dragon's Roar at the unsuspecting Doranbolt. "Huh!?" The hurricane Wendy released slammed into Doranbolt, knocking him into the ground, gritting his teeth as he struggled to sit up.

"We have to keep going!" Wendy shouted.

"No, he's just gonna keep coming after us at this right!" Two orbs of red fire appeared in Cynthia's hands, she placed these orbs together to create an even larger orb she held over her head. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Flame Dragon!" Cynthia hurled the sphere at the downed Doranbolt, creating a large explosion; the impact of the flaming sphere left a large cloud of dust and smoke, making it near impossible to see through.

"What did you do…?" Wendy asked, pulling Cynthia away from the smoke cloud.

"I think I hit him…" Cynthia replied. "Or I made it near impossible for him to see…or both…"

"Cynthia, why are they after you!?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know!" Cynthia replied, keeping her voice to a hushed whisper. A few minutes passed and the girls stopped, using the time to catch their breath. "I think we lost them…" Cynthia sighed, leaning against the tree. "We have to get back home…"

"No can do," A few Magic Council guards answered, just enough to outnumber the girls.

"T-These guys are here too!?" Wendy took a step back, panting heavily, her heart beating from pure nervousness. Doranbolt appeared in a flash, standing in front of the guards, and the two girls.

"I don't think you understand the complete situation here, Wendy," Doranbolt said calmly.

"I understand it just fine!" Wendy shouted in reply, balling her fist as she shook slightly from a mixture of fear and anger. "You're trying to take my friend away from me, and I won't allow it!"

Doranbolt sighed and shook his head slowly, "I guess I can't make you understand…Guards, arrest…the both of them,"

"W-WHAT!?" Cynthia's eyes widened. "Wendy didn't do anything! You can't take her in for protecting me! That's not fair!"

"Wendy attacked an on duty officer and assisted a wanted criminal, I have no choice but to arrest you both," Doranolt replied, sighing heavily and shaking his head. "Wendy, how serious about this are you?" Wendy remained silent, glaring at Doranbolt and the surrounding officers. Red fire and wind slowly started to appear around her body, the small animal like attachments on her hair breaking off as her hair started to flow upwards; within seconds, Wendy's body was completely surrounded by red fire and howling blue winds as she entered Omega Flame Sky mode. "W-What is that…!?" Doranbolt took a few steps back from sheer surprise. "When could you!?"

"Because Cynthia trusted me, and now it's my turn to trust her when she said she didn't do anything!" Wendy sucked in a deep breath, red fire and sky blue winds swirling in a vortex around her mouth, "Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Roar!" She threw her head forward, unleashing a massive funnel of wind and fire, trailing out to at least a mile because she was holding back. When the roar cleared, Doranbolt and the Council Guards were on the ground, heavily damaged. "Let's go!" Wendy panted a bit from the heavy magic usage and ran off with Cynthia once again.

On a nearby ledge, a man estimated to be in his thirties, in a lab coat, black pants, a particular shade of black hair, blue eyes, brown shoes, and white gloves stood, watching the scene. "Well, well…it looks like our test subject is doing much better outside the lab than in…" he was talking mostly to himself, but there was also a girl wearing a red dress, white short hair, and red flats.

"Well no duh, you bloody idiot…" The girl replied; her voice had a clear British accent to it. "It's no surprise she's doin' better outside than inside; you can't coop someone up and expect to take over the entire bloody country when they haven't even seen sunlight."

"Yes, I see your point there…My point is, however, is that she's become much stronger than she was before. The outside has made her much stronger than I could've ever hoped," the male replied.

"So, you want us to get the bloody child or…" the female replied, looking over at the male with her orange-red eyes while crossing her arms.

"No, not yet…" the male replied, moving a hand through his black hair. "It's not time yet."

"What do you mean it's not time yet!? She's got the bloody Council on her trail now!" The female replied in an annoyed tone.

"Calm down, Solfatara," the male replied calmly. "She needs a little more experience before we take her back, understand? We'll just watch in the meantime."

"It's Maggie..." the female mumbled. "Whatever suits your fancy…wanker…" Maggie mumbled the last word to herself, walking off with the male to keep a closer eye on Cynthia and Wendy.

"Ugh…" Doranbolt activated the communications lacrima again, shocking Lahar with his heavily damaged state.

"Doranbotl!? What happened to you!?" Lahar questioned, his eyes widened.

"They resisted…I wasn't expecting them to…" Doranbolt replied through heavy breaths.

"Do I need to come down there?" Lahar asked, readying a squad of Council Guards.

"No…You need to send _them._" Doranbolt replied, sitting up slowly, holding his chest with one hand.

"Understood…" Lahar cut the lacrima off, and then turned around, three shadows standing behind him. "Are you three ready?" A male with short blond hair that reached down to his neck and an earring in his left ear stood forward. The male was in a standard Magic Council Enforcement unit uniform.

"Third Captain, Correll reporting for duty," Correll said with a slight grin.

A male with black hair that reached the bottom of his neck, spiking itself towards the end stood forward; this male also had a noticeable goatee. "Second Captain, Odin reporting for duty."

The last male to walk forward had a dirty tan green hair; he was taller than the other three captains, and a smirk formed on his face. "First Captain, Aloy reporting for duty."


	39. Chapter 39: Cynthia's Bonds

"Did Wendy and Cynthia leave already?" Lucy asked as she looked around the guild.

"Earlier this morning," Mirajane replied with smile. "They might be in the middle of a train ride right now."

Natsu gagged just from the mention of a train ride. "Ugh…trains…" he groand slightly, his face going slightly pale.

"WE JUST MENTIONED IT!" Lucy shouted, amazed that Natsu's motion sickness was so terrible he got nauseous.

"I can't help it!" Natsu replied, flailing his arms around.

"I should've gone with them anyway…" Carla mumbled to herself, sighing that she decided to trust Cynthia.

"You don't trust Wendy?" Lucy asked, looking at Carla.

"It's not Wendy I don't trust," Carla replied. "I don't trust Cynthia."

"Eh, why not?" Cana asked, placing her mug on the table as she looked at the white Exceed with confusion. "Everyone around here trusts her, and so does Wendy."

"That doesn't mean I have to," Carla replied rather bluntly. "I know that girl is trouble somehow, and I can't believe I let Wendy get so close to her."

"She's a member of Fairy Tail," Gray said. "And they did save each other's lives in a way. You really expected to keep them apart after that?"

"And what do you mean she's trouble…?" Lucy asked, placing her hands on the table.

"I just…" Carla knew it wasn't easy to be the only one untrusting of Cynthia, but she had her reasons, and she intended to show everyone her insight on the matter. "My visions," Carla started. "I saw where Cynthia was holding Wendy above a cliff!"

"You mean before she ate Cynthia's flames, right?" Erza said.

"That right. I know Wendy said they planned for something like that to happen, but what if Wendy couldn't have eaten her flames?! Or she dropped her!?" Carla started once again.

"I get it…" Erza said with a small smile. "You're just worried. Don't worry, Carla, it's natural. You just have to trust Cynthia like we all do," Erza nodded slowly. "I remember when I first started to get to know her…"

{Flashback}

Cynthia's second day as a member of Fairy Tail consisted of her helping Erza around town. She wanted to get to know Erza better, and the town, but she found that helping Erza was a little more strenuous than she would've liked. "A-Are we done…?" Cynthia asked as she trudged behind Erza who was walking perfectly fine.

Erza nodded, a large smile appearing over her face as she made a beeline to the cake store. "Yes, we're done! Now we can relax for the rest of the day and have a slice of strawberry cake for our hard work." Erza's smile quickly grew at the thought of a nice strawberry cake.

Cynthia blinked a few times, standing up straight as she looked at Cynthia with an unusually confused expression. "What's cake?" Erza froze, a heartbroken expression replacing her wide smile as she turned to Cynthia slowly.

"You…you don't know what cake is…?" Erza asked as her eyes widened from shock.

"Nope…" Cynthia looked away awkwardly, trying to avoid Erza's gaze. That was all Erza needed to hear as she dragged Cynthia into the bakery and ordered two pieces of strawberry cake; Erza then handed Cynthia a piece eagerly, her eyes sparkling as she waited for her to try it.

"Em…" Cynthia slowly slid a portion of the cake into her mouth, and then took a bite. Hearts immediately filled the young girl's eyes as she grinned, shoveling the rest of the cake into her mouth. "THAT WAS AMAZING," Cynthia grinned, pieces of the cake she so messily ate resting around her mouth.

"ISN'T IT?" Erza said with a grin as she easily finished off her strawberry cake.

{End flashback}

"…THAT'S why she stole my cake…" Lucy huffed.

"My bad?" Erza cleared her throat awkwardly before turning back to Carla. "You really have nothing to worry about…"

"We don't even know much about her!" Carla replied.

"Does she really have to talk about her past…?" Lucy asked, rubbing her arm a bit. "Not everyone is into that sort of sharing…"

"If that past could cause potential danger to everyone…" Carla responded, placing her paws on her hips with a stern expression.

"We'll just take care of whatever happens!" Natsu grinned. "Heh, if we're talking about how we started to get to know here, I remember it clearly."

{Flashback}

Natsu and Cynthia were standing out in the middle of an open field, both panting heavily as they were sparring against one another. "Are we…done…?" Cynthia panted, hunched over.

"NOT YET!" Natsu reared his arm back, throwing his fist forward. "ONE MORE HIT!" Cynthia groaned, sidestepping Natsu's punch and elbowed his jaw, sending him spiraling into the ground. "We're done…" He groaned, sitting up slowly. "Man, you're so strong…" Natsu said with a smile.

"I-I am?" Cynthia smiled slightly, the thought of being strong appealing to her quite a bit. "I wanna be strong," Cynthia nodded, fixing her hair.

"Aye, sir!" Happy replied from the sidelines.

"Fairy Tail will keep you strong," Natsu replied. "We ARE the number one guild after all, and everyone here is really strong!"

"My work is cut out for me I guess…" She thought to herself as she simply nodded at Natsu's response. "I'm always up for a spar, anytime you want! I wanna get stronger and stronger!"

{End Flashback}

"Are we really doing this right now…?" Carla groaned, rubbing her temples with her paws. "This isn't what I was intending for!"

"Oh, come on," Lucy poked Carla teasingly. "You need to stop being so worrisome and let us explain why we trust and like Cynthia!"

"Why do you trust her then?" Carla asked, looking up at Lucy.

"I think the main reason I trust her is because she's already acting like how anyone else would here. She wasn't even a member of Fairy Tail and she risked her life just to save Wendy's. Can't you trust her about that?" Lucy asked.

"Well...I am thankful she saved Wendy's life…" Carla replied, looking down at the ground.

{Flashback}

Lucy invited Cynthia over to her house; little did Lucy know that someone else was also there, using her shower. "Is someone else in here…?" Cynthia asked as she took a seat on Lucy's couch.

"There shouldn't be…!" Lucy groaned before walking to the bathroom door, only for it to open with Cana stepping out, wrapped around in a towel. "Cana!?"

"Oh, sorry for not telling you I was in here," Cana shrugged smirking just slightly.

"Is that always a thing?" Cynthia asked, leaning back into Lucy's couch.

"IT SHOULDN'T BE!" Lucy groaned.

"Oh, lighten up, Lucy!" Cana replied, sliding over a mug of beer she brought over to Lucy. "Calm down and have some beer, it's what I always do!"

"What's beer?" Cynthia asked, hopping up from the couch, the strong scent of the beer not affecting her sensitive nose.

"It's the best drink in the world!" Cana replied with a large grin, picking up a bottle of beer she placed on the counter and started chugging it.

"Did you bring an entire stock or something!?" Lucy asked, looking in her fridge, only seeing beer.

"I was gonna finish it…!" Cana replied, finishing the bottle in her hands and throwing it away, pulling another out from the fridge.

Cynthia scooted into Lucy's kitchen, pulling out a bottle of beer as she popped it open and examined it. "Can I have one?" She asked in an innocent, yet curious tone as she slowly put the bottle to her lips.

"NO!" Lucy snatched the bottle from Cynthia's hands.

"WHY NOOOOT!" Cynthia whined childishly, sticking her lower lip out to pout.

"It's an adult drink!" Lucy replied, feeling like she was babysitting Cynthia or something.

"I'm thirteen! I think that's close enough!" Cynthia protested, flailing her arms up and down rapidly

"Not even!" Lucy replied, holding the body high above her head so Cynthia couldn't reach it.

"No fair!" Cynthia huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, don't be like that, Lucy…" Cana said, her voice slightly slurred.

"…How much have you been drinking?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow at the fact Cana's voice was slurred.

"Not much…" Cana then tipped over, falling onto the floor, blacked out.

"…Is that normal?" Cynthia pointed at Cana, taking a baby step back.

"Sadly, it is…" Lucy sighed.

{End flashback}

"You're making this harder than it needs to be…" Carla muttered.

"You're only saying that because you're seeing that we're right and that Cynthia is nothing to worry about," Gray nodded, leaning back in a chair as she crossed his arms.

"How did you "bond" with her then…?" Carla turned, looking at Gray.

"Juvia remembers it like it was yesterday!" Juvia randomly chimed in, hearts in her eyes.

"Juvia where did you…" Gray started. "Never mind…"

{Flashback}

Gray and Cynthia were in the middle of a spar; it just reached the point where Gray was about to get serious, so he gripped his shirt, and tossed it off, causing Cynthia to blink. "Why…why did you just remove your shirt…?"

"It's time for me to get serious," Gray replied, smirking. "I hope you're ready." Gray smacked his fist into his palm. "Ice Make…"

"GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia appeared behind Gray, hugging his shirtless chest tightly.

"J-JUVIA!?" Gray was caught off guard by the surprise hug, causing him to almost fall over. "What are you doing here?! Cynthia and I are sparring!"

"Juvia saw Gray-sama and she couldn't help herself!" Juvia's grip slowly tightened on Gray.

"I'm going to be honest here…that's a little…creepy…" Cynthia coughed that last part out.

"Love rival?" Juvia immediately towered over Cynthia. "Juiva must eliminate all love rivals."

"I'M ONLY THIRTEEN I DON'T WANT HIM!" Cynthia flailed. "WAAAH!"

"Hmm…Juvia will keep an eye on Cynthia-san…" Juvia said as she narrowed her eyes at Cynthia. "If Cynthia-san really isn't a love rival, then Juvia would be happy to be friends with her!"

"C-Cynthia isn't a love rival! She promises!" Cynthia nodded a few times, not noticing the fact Juvia's habit of speaking in third person got to her.

"Juvia will trust Cynthia-san then!" Juvia nodded happily, shaking Cynthia's hand vigorously. "Juvia wants to welcome Cynthia-san to Fairy Tail!" Juvia's cold glare quickly replaced itself with a warm smile.

"Huh…I can't believe I forgot to do the same thing…" Gray shrugged walking over to Cynthia and shook her hand. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Cynthia." Gray said with a smile.

{End flashback}

"Okay…fine…fine…I see your points…I'm just worrying too much…" Carla sighed.

"Giehe, the brats something else alright…I was wondering why she was trying to take a bite out of me when she learned Dragon Slayers could eat other Dragon Slayer's magic…" Gajeel said, coughing awkwardly at the memory.

"She did that?" Lucy replied to Gajeel, raising an eyebrow.

"She's a special case…" Gajeel replied.

{Flashback}

A few day or two before the festival started, Cynthia approached Gajeel as he feasted on an iron bar in peace while Lily was just sitting on the table, thinking to himself. Cynthia sat next to Gajeel, poking his arm a few times. Gajeel looked down at the girl, raising an eyebrow as he swallowed the iron. "Whaddya want, runt?"

"I know you!" Cynthia replied with grin.

"That's great..." Gajeel shrugged her off, then blinked as he felt Cynthia continuously poking him. "What do you want!?" Gajeel asked in an annoyed tone.

"I wanna bite you," Cynthia replied bluntly, but it was in an innocent tone as well.

"...What?" Gajeel blinked, looking down at Cynthia with the utmost confused expression.

"I wanna bite you!" Cynthia replied, a childish twinkle in her eyes.

"What the hell...?" Gajeel took a step back, raising an eyebrow. "Listen, kid...don't touch me..." It was too late, Gajeel's words went in one ear in out the other as Cynthia opened her mouth, Gajeel covered his arm in metallic scales as Cynthia bit down on it.

"...Owwwy..." Cynthia mumbled, only increasing her bite.

"What the hell is wrong with you kid!?" Gajeel waved his arm around in attempt to fling Cynthia off. It was weird to Gajeel to say the least, but Cynthia seemed to be enjoying herself.

{End Flashback}

"Whatever the case," Laxus said as he walked in the door, overhearing the conversation. "She's a very strong girl." He nodded as he spoke, smirking slightly. "We sparred just before the idea of the festival came to be; she gave me a run for my money."

{Flashback}

"Is that all you got?" Laxus said, hunched over as he was panting somewhat heavily, his body covered in burn marks, and his clothes somewhat tattered, but he was smirking.

"N-Not even...!" Cynthia replied, hunched over as well, her hands on her knees to help support herself. Sparks were dancing around her body from Laxus's prior attacks, and she was covered in marks along with Laxus. She reared her arm back, semi dark red flames appearing around her fist as she charged forward. Laxus also pulled his arm back, electricity dancing wildly around his fist as she also charged forward.

{End flashback}

"You won, right Laxus!?" Natsu replied, pounding his fist as he started to think of challenging Laxus again.

"You could say that," Laxus replied.

"FIGHT ME!" Natsu charged forward, but Laxus merely threw an electrical punch, one hit Ko'ing Natsu. "Gah…"

"That was fast..." Alzack commented as he walked towards the conversation with Bisca and Asuka in his arms. "Are we talking about Cynthia?" He asked, letting his daughter take a seat on a chair.

"Yeah, we're just talking about how she's gotten to know everyone in Fairy Tail and all," Lucy replied.

"Oh, well if that's the case," Bisca started, a warm smile appearing on her face. "Cynthia is just the sweetest thing! She's so good with children too, especially Asuka!"

"Asuka like Cynthia!" The small child nodded with a gleeful smile, smiling from ear to ear.

"Even Asuka?" Carla sighed, knowing the battle she was fighting was a losing one at this point.

"Me too!" Roemo chimed in.

"Romeo?" Lucy looked over at the rainbow fire magic. "How did you and Cynthia get along?"

"Well..." Romeo started.

{Flashback}

Romeo was standing around the front doors of the guild, practicing his fire techniques, which ultimately attracted Cynthia to him. "Is that fire?" Cynthia asked, looking at the blue fire in Romeo's hands.

"Mhm!" Romeo nodded with a smile. "I learned how to use different color fire thanks to my teacher, Totomaru!"

"Ooooh...Mind if I had a taste!?" Cynthia didn't even bother waiting for an answer, she simply inhaled the blue fire from Romeo's hands, grinning with delight after. "MMM! That was delicious!" The young fire mage blinked a few times, just remembering that the new girl was a fire dragon slayer of some kind, so it was only natural she ate fire. "Do you have anymore?!" Cynthia placed her hands together with a hopeful look.

"Oh, yeah!" Romeo nodded, holding his hand out as a thick purple flame surrounded his hand. "I use this fire for attacking and I can mold it to grab onto things!" Romeo said with a smile. However, Cynthia wasn't paying much attention as she sucked the flames from Romeo's hands, still grinning as she rubbed her stomach.

"More please!" The young dragon slayer said with an innocent yet cheerful voice. Romeo couldn't help but laugh a little as she conjured up yellow fire around his hand.

"And this one-" He didn't have time for an explanation this time as Cynthia inhaled the yellow flames, only to start gagging several seconds later.

"GAH!" Cynthia coughed, shaking her head from side to side rapidly. "Ew, gross! What is THAT!?"

"Yellow fire...it stinks..." Romeo blinked, barely able to hold back a snicker.

"Gross..." Cynthia shook her head one last time before leaning in closer to Romeo, examining him. "You know...You look a lot like someone I used to know..."

"I do...?" Romeo blinked.

"Yeah...!" Cynthia put Romeo in a headlock and placed her fist in his hair, giving the young boy a noogie. "I always did this to him too!"

"Waaah!" Romeo struggled to get free, but he was at the mercy of Cynthia and her playful attitude.

{End flashback}

Romeo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly after telling the story. "Oh, that's cute!" Lucy said with a faint smile.

Markarov was listening in on the entire conversation, and he believed he came up with an accurate solution to Carla's situation. "If you truly believe that Cynthia may bring this guild some problems with her background, I will ask her personally to reveal her history. I know she wouldn't purposely put this guild in danger; I can sense how much this place really means to her."

"So, until then, will you at least TRY to trust her?" Lucy asked Carla.

"Fine…I will…I'll apologize for being not trusting of her when she and Wendy return later…" Carla said, still feeling a bit uneasy. She wasn't sure why though.


	40. Chapter 40: Cynthia's Story

Wendy and Cynthia took refuge in a small abandon house, using the time to catch their breath and regain their magic. Wendy opened her mouth, inhaling the air around to recover her magic power. "That was too close…"

"Agreed…" Cynthai sat down on the floor, panting heavily.

"Why are they after you!?" Wendy spoke in a hushed tone in case there happened to be any wandering Council guards in the area.

"I-I…" Cynthia sighed before looking up at Wendy, realizing that she didn't want Wendy caught too deep in this. "If I tell you…you'll probably turn me in…"

Wendy blinked a few times, unsure on why Cynthia was saying what she was, "Why do you say that…?"

"Because…they aren't wrong…" Cynthia looked down at the broken wooden floor, sighing.

"W-What do you mean?" Wendy was unsure if she should take a step forward or a step back.

"I'll tell you everything…and let you decide…" Cynthia sighed as she began her tale. "Seven years ago…I placed into a magic research facility. The head scientist there is…er…was a little crazy…"

"Crazy…? How so…?" Wendy asked, unsure if she should have.

"I wasn't the only person trapped in this place…" Cynthia continued. "There were more…but I was the one that got the most attention for several reasons…I was always the favorite because I was told I had untapped potential…"

"What does that mean…?" Wendy asked again, taking a seat next to Cynthia.

"It means I had a lot of magical energy in my body for such a young age…it wasn't exactly all that healthy, as I got sick from time to time…It didn't help that I was basically tortured all day everyday with little time to actually enjoy myself…" Cynthia replied as she continued with her story. "Anyway…the head of the facility…he wanted to create the most powerful flame in the word, and put it into my body…"

{Flashback}

The head of the facility was a male with black hair, and blue eyes; wearing a lab coat that reached down to his legs, black pants, and black shoes. "I have a surprise for you d-"

"Don't call me that…" A six year old Cynthia replied, huddled on her bed with her back facing the head. "You don't have the right to call me that…"

"Oh, relax," the head replied with a false smile. "I've come up with something that will help bring out that sealed potential of yours."

"I'm not interested…I want to go home…" Cynthia replied, sniffling as tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Ohoho! That's cute. I don't think you've noticed that this IS your home now," the head replied once again, his tone a bit more condescending.

{End Flashback}

"The most powerful flame…?" Wendy tilted her head slowly.

"Hai…" Cynthia nodded slowly, placing a hand on her chest. "The head said that he wanted the flames of a god, but there was a problem…The only person he knew he could capture a God's Flames from died on some island…so he was stuck with the next best thing; a dragon's flame."

"Where did he get a dragon's flame…?" Wendy asked once again, the surprise in her voice slowly rising with each time she spoke.

"He created it, using magic of course…though, as you can tell, the flames he made were much stronger than a normal Fire Dragon," Cynthia nodded slowly. "I was placed on a surgical table…and that's when the lacrima was implanted into my body…the day I became a Dragon Slayer…" Cynthia sighed. "But that was only the start of my troubles…every day…nonstop…I was put through rigorous training…no, torture…"

{Flashback}

"L-Let me go!" The young Cynthia struggled as she was restrained on a surgical table, a few of the scientist looking down at her menacingly, at least in her eyes. The head appeared with a red triangular lacrima, grinning widely. He handed the lacrima off to one of the scientist as he sat afar and watched the procedure of the lacrima being embedded into Cynthia's body. The process was clearly painful, as Cynthia screamed and cried during the entire process. "STOP IT! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! WHERE'S MOMMY, I WANT MY MOMMY!"

"Oh, silly Cynthia…your mother isn't around anymore, remember?" The head chuckled softly, shaking his head from side to side slowly, grinning as the lacrima gave off a glow, signaling that the process was working. "Soon…you will become the dragon that everyone fears…that will bring the Council down to its knees…the dragon that will help me rule Fiore with an iron fist!"

{End Flashback}

Cynthia started to tear up at the memories. "It was horrible…I was yelled at every time I failed to meet expectations…every time I did one little thing wrong…for seven years, I had to endure that...the lacrima took my anger…my fear…my sadness, and changed it into power…that's what made me so special…my power comes from my feelings, and with that…I was bound to be the tool that was used to take over Fiore with an iron fist…that's all I was to him…a tool. Well…I fought back…countless times…over and over…I didn't stop…I didn't want to be just a tool; I wanted to be a person. But no matter how many times I escaped, I was always caught…"

{Flashback}

A fiery explosion caused a large set of two metal doors to fly forward, slamming into the steel wall, a loud "CLANG" sound breaking out. A ten year old Cynthia stood at the broken doorway, panting heavily as red flames surrounded her bruised body. "Today..." She muttered to herself, running forward with a slight limp due to her semi injured leg. She whimpered softly as she ran through the hallways, but she knew it would be worth it if she could escape. She knew where to go, and she always took a different route in hopes of throwing the guards off, but it never worked. Cynthia made a sharp left turn down a corridor, only to skid to a halt when her path was blocked by several guards, and the head of the facility.

"My, my...if you wanted a late night snack all you could've done was ask..." The head said shaking his head slowly.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Cynthia's flame flared dangerously as they started to go darker. She was more afraid of being caught again than anything else.

"Oh my, it seems your power is progressing faster than I was expecting..." The head grinned at the results Cynthia was producing. "In a few years time you'll be the most powerful dragon slayer in the world."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE A DRAGON SLAYER!" Cynthia screamed out. "I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT MOMMY!"

"I already told you that your mother isn't here; she's dead, how many times do I have to tell you. SHE IS DEAD, AND SHE'S NEVER COMING BACK FOR YOU."

"S-STOP IT!" Tears started flooding from Cynthia's eyes as she formed a sphere of dark red fire in her hand, immediately throwing it at the Head and his guards.

"You never learn...you have to harness your power, or I'll harness it FOR you..." The head waved his hand, creating a red barrier; fire resistant. The sphere hit the barrier, clashing with it for a few seconds before the barrier shattered, blowing the Head back a few feet, but a smirk appeared on his face. "Excellent, your power is coming along just nicely...It's only a matter of time..."

{End Flashback}

"But…you escaped…" Wendy said quietly.

"I had help…from the other kids who weren't getting as much attention as I was…" Cynthia replied. "During a session where my magical power was getting amplified, they just attacked. They broke me out, though the explosion left me bruised and battered…I made my way to the stairs and the front door; the only thing that stood between me was the head of the facility and a few guards. He smiled from my pain…I had to leave…and I did…I caused an explosion and I walked out to freedom…only to pass out and roll down a hill…and when I woke up, you were the first thing I saw…"

"Cynthia…" Wendy listened carefully, the story too heartbreaking. She was just a little girl, yet she was tortured for seven years.

"I'm a threat because when I lose control, my flames grow dark, wild, violent…I could've burned down Fiore if you weren't there to stop me…" Cynthia stood up slowly, keeping her gaze away from Wendy. "I'll just go turn myself in…and say that I forced you to protect me…that way you won't get in any trouble…"

Wendy stood up and reached for Cynthia's hand, holding onto it tightly. "Cynthia…don't…"

"Why not? I'm just a tool waiting to be used; right…it's better if I'm not used at all…" Cynthia kept her eyes on the door, refusing to show Wendy the tear rolling down her cheek.

"You're not a tool…" Wendy replied. "You're a person…you're a member of Fairy Tail…and you are my best friend. Whatever your problems are…we'll get through them together…"

"But…it's the Magic Council, Wendy…" Cynthia replied. "You know what they do to people…? I've heard everything they've done while I was in that place…the Wizard Saint Siegrain…the way they do justice isn't just," She continued. "I don't want you to suffer because of me…"

"I'll be fine…You'll be fine…" Wendy turned Cynthia around, hugging her tightly. "I won't let them take you away from me…from Fairy Tail…" Cynthia remained silent, though she returned Wendy's hug.

"You're so stubborn…" Cynthia giggled a little bit.

"What can I say?" Wendy smiled a bit, pulling back from the hug and wiped away a stray tear. "Aheh…Oh, that reminds me..." Wendy dug in her pocket for a second before pulling out a picture of the two near a Ferris wheel, smiling together.

"What's that...?" Cynthia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's the picture we took at the festival, remember?" Wendy said with a smile as she held the picture up for Cynthia to take.

(Flashback}

The troia spell just wore off on Cynthia while she and Wendy were on the Ferris wheel, causing Cynthia's motion sickness to act up. "Ugh...can we get down now...this was a lot more fun when I wasn't dying..." Cynthia groaned, leaning on Wendy for support.

Wendy let off a nervous laugh as she put her arm around Cynthia's shoulder to help support her. "I told you it would wear off on this one..."

"I thought we'd be down by noooooow!" Cynthia whined, shifting around uncomfortably. About twenty minutes passed before the Ferris wheel ride ended, and Cynthia limped out the cart with Wendy, placing her hands on the ground. "Oh sweet ground! I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!"

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked, holding her hands behind her back.

"Fine now!" Cynthia stood up and grinned. "Oh, look!" Cynthia pointed over to a picture booth. "Let's get our picture taken!"

"That sounds like fun!" Wendy grinned, pulling Cynthia over to the picture booth.

{End Flashback}

"Oh...I do remember that!" Cynthia grinned slightly, taking the picture from Wendy's hands. "You don't want it...?"

"I want you to keep it," Wendy replied. "In case you feel lonely for some reason..."

"I...okay..." Cynthia nodded, sliding the picture into her pocket.

The girls hid out in the house for about an hour before deciding to take a look outside. "The coast seems clear…" Wendy said quietly.

"Should we head to the train station now…?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes…we might have to fight to get back…" Wendy and Cynthia slipped out of the house, and snuck off into the night. Little did they know that the third captain, Correll, was quietly stalking them.


	41. Chapter 41: Vs The Council Part 2

Wendy and Cynthia made a beeline for the train station, but they were unaware of the Third Captain, Correll, silently stalking them from a decent distance so his scent wouldn't be picked up by the Dragon Slayer's sensitive noses. "I think we're close to where we came from before we started running!" Wendy said with a relived smile, arriving at the middle of a stone path surrounded by tall grass.

"Are you sure?" Cynthia asked, coming to a stop as she looked around the area. "I don't remember this way at all…"

"I'm pretty sure…!" Wendy nodded, facing Cynthia with a smile.

"Get down!" Correll shouted, a magic circle appearing under both the girl's feet as the gravity increased, bringing the two girls down on their stomachs, lying on the stone path against their will.

"GAH!" Cynthia was unable to move her body due to the sudden change in gravity.

"C-Cynthia!" Wendy attempted to move her body, but she found that she was unable to.

Correll was about six feet away from the two girls, dusting his hands off. "Heh, that wasn't so hard," he said with a smirk.

"W-Who are you!?" Wendy shouted, attempting to force her body to move, but again, failed.

"Third Captain of the Magic Council, Correll," Correll replied with a smirk, unable to help but laugh slightly as the two girls remained helpless on the ground. "Doranbolt had trouble with you two? Hard to believe…"

On the sidelines on some high ground, Maggie and the man in a lab coat were watching the scene as Correll nearly had the two girls detained. "Are we gonna do something now are we just gonna stand here like a buncha ninnies?"

"Not yet…" the male replied as Correll pulled out the magic sealing cuffs, slowly making his way over to Wendy and Cynthia.

"Uhm, he's gonna get them…" Maggie frowned slightly. "I'm going to be pretty pissed if you LET this happen! The nutter isn't supposed to know we're here, right?" As she spoke, Correll was slowly closing the distance between him and the girls, smirking slightly. "He's getting closer…"

"She should be able to get out of it…" The male said with a semi confident voice.

"She's not getting out of it ya bloomin' tosser! Bloody hell!" Maggie let out a frustrated sighed. She then looked on as Cynthia's red flames flared out dangerously, attempting to keep Correll at bay.

"That's cute…" Correll smirked slightly as he took a step back, Cynthia's plan seemingly working. Correll just increased the gravity on Cynthia, adding more pressure as her concentration faded, causing the flames to die out quickly.

"AH!" Cynthia yelped out from the gravity forcing her into the stone.

"Now then," Correll raised the magic sealing cuffs, feeling confident in his soon to be arrest.

"Damn…do it now," the male ordered.

"Finally…" Maggie started inhaling a mouthful of ash into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out. "Ashfall," She threw her head forward, a grey magic circle appearing before her as a giant flaming sphere of ash flew just behind Correll, the impact causing a heavy ash to stain the area, heavily restricting sight.

"What the hell!?" Correll lost his concentration due to all the ash, causing his Gravity Magic to wear off on the two girls. Cynthia stood up, grabbing Cynthia and the two ran off once again, thankful to whatever or whoever caused that ash diversion.

"Who did that!?" Wendy asked, coughing a little from the ash.

"I don't know, but I'm thankful whoever it was did that…" Cynthia replied, coughing slightly from some of the ash that got into her respiratory system.

"Tch…Do you see my point?" The male asked as he looked over at Maggie. "When she becomes strong enough to stand in such pressuring moments, that's when we take her back."

"Tch, I think you're expectin' too much of the bloody child…" Maggie replied, shaking her head. "I doubt many people can resist gravity, you ninny."

"I was expecting too much of her when I expected her to easily escape?! Nonsense! I know full well on what that child is capable of, and I refuse to have anything happen to her until I can harness her power for my own!" The male replied, scowling.

"Don't get your nickers in a twist," Maggie replied, waving a dismissive hand. "You hired us so the Council wouldn't take her; we're going to do what we agreed to, blimey…"

"Good, now come on; I believe they went this way," The male said, walking in the direction Cynthia and Wendy ran off in.

Wendy and Cynthia continued their trek, thankful the ash gave them enough time to escape. They took a breather near a group of trees. "We…we have to keep running," Cynthia said through heavy pants.

"If we wear ourselves out we'll be sitting ducks…" Wendy replied, catching her breath.

"If we stop we are sitting ducks!" Cynthia raised her voice just slightly, trying not to catch any attention. "What are you gonna do…?" She groaned quietly, leaning against a tree.

"The Train station isn't too far from here…I hope…if we can just make it there…" Wendy started, but she stopped when she heard footsteps closing in on them.

"Hide…!" Cynthia quickly grabbed Wendy's arm and pulled her behind a tree, peering from behind the tree just enough to see Correll and a number of Council guards walking past them.

"Sir, where are we going?" A guard asked.

"We're going to the train station," Correll smirked slightly. "No doubt those little criminals are trying to get there and escape before we can get to them." This caused a slight gasp to escape Cynthia's lips.

"They're gonna beat us to the train station…!" Cynthia said in a loud whisper.

"What do we do now…!?" Wendy replied, feeling her heartbeat speed up from nervousness.

"If we sit around…we're gonna get caught…if we try to move…we're gonna get caught…" Cynthia sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose as all of her suggestions ended with them getting caught. "I'll fight them…that way you can escape…" Cynthia said.

"What!? You can't fight them alone, and I'm not leaving you to get caught!" Wendy replied, giving Cynthia a serious glare. "I'm already in trouble, so I'm fighting with you!" Wendy nodded, and then thought to herself; "If Erza-san were here she'd know how to help us…"

"Fine…fine…follow me…" Cynthia slowly walked out from behind the tree with Wendy behind her; the two silently stalking Correll and his men as they slowly made their way to the train station. "Ready?" Cynthia whispered to Wendy.

"Ready…" Wendy nodded slowly, sucking in a breath as a vortex of wind appeared around her more. "Roar…"

Cynthia also took a deep breath, inhaling as a vortex of red fire appeared around her mouth, "Roar…Of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia threw her head forward, unleashing a spiral of red fire from her mouth.

"Of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy threw her head forward as well sending a sky blue hurricane from her mouth towards Correll in his men; the two roars merged into a unison raid midway through.

"What?" Correll heard the noise and turned, but it was too late as the unison roar slammed into him and his men, causing a large explosion and a large dust cloud to appear. When the dust faded, Correll was hunching over, panting heavily from the attack while his men were unconscious. "You little…" Correll fell to his knees, and then his side, the surprise unison raid's direct hit became too much for his body to take.

"We got him…! Let's go!" Cynthia quickly dragged Wendy over Correll and the unconscious guards. Correll was mentally cursing himself for being unable to muster any energy to use his Gravity Magic to weigh the two girls down as they stepped over him.

"You know…" Maggie started, crossing her arms as she watched the two girls run off. "There are two of our guys stationed at the train station…"

"Keep them there," The male replied, keeping his eyes on Cynthia as he and Maggie walked to keep an eye on the two girls.

"They could easily just…" Maggie started.

"I don't see anything they can do besides…" The male stopped, his eyes widening as an idea came into his head. "Actually…there is something I would like to see…"

"And what could that possibly be?" Maggie asked, looking over at the male with a brow raised.

"I want to see what Cynthia would do if that other girl happened to get…injured," A devilish smirk slowly appeared on the male's lips.


	42. Chapter 42: Vs The Council Part 3

"And here I thought Correll would be able to handle two little girls…" Odin sighed shaking his head slowly, watching the large explosion from the double unison raid from a distance. "I guess it's my turn to step in…Aloy probably won't need to come in…" Odin led a small squad of Council guards to the area just before the train station, knowing that Wendy and Cynthia were heading there to escape.

.

.

At the guild, White Eclipse, things were still as lively before as ever. However, they were too lively for the fearless mage, Master Calium, who was rubbing his temples at all the noise. "You're all too loud…calm down, final warning," Calium spoke in a serious tone.

Cygnus approached the master, shaking his head slightly. "You won't swing, sir," He said. Calium waved his hands, sending a right light that crashed into Cygnus, sending him flying out of the guild. "STILL WASN'T A SWING!" Cygnus replied as he flew through the guild walls.

"I'm not fixing that…" Zalen said as he cleaned off his glasses.

"Fix it, Zalen," Sidney practically commanded.

"Right…" Zalen shivered a little from the sudden commanded, standing up as a magic circle appeared on the hole Cygnus was thrown through. A few seconds later, the hole repaired itself. "Done."

"Master and Sidney seem a bit on edge today, don't you think…?" Aira asked Nami.

"A little…I wonder what's wrong…" Nami replied,

"Something is coming…" Calium replied, raising his voice to get everyone's attention.

"Something?" Luke asked, sitting up on the couch.

"I don't know what, but I have a feeling you are all in grave danger…" Calium said with a stern expression.

"We can handle whatever it is, old man," Reve replied with a smirk, twirling one of his guns around.

Cygnus pushed the door open; shaking off the earlier impact like it was nothing. "Demi-god of Gravity, I think we're safe here. Plus we got you and Sidney on our side, we're practically unstoppable."

"Pretty much why we're number one in Fiore," Waiston smirked, and then prepared himself to lung at Sidney. "Sidney, fight me!" Waiston lunged at Sidney, who without even looking grabbed the Ice Dragon Slayer by his jacket and tossed him into the ceiling, one hit ko'ing him.

"Now's not the time for fighting," Calium replied, his voice stern, serious.

"Must be serious…" Selene whispered over to Michio, who simply shrugged.

"I dunno," Michio replied, leaning against the wall. A few minutes of tense silence passed before the door slowly opened, two figures standing in the doorway.

"Who's that…?" Taya asked, walking into the main room from the kitchen.

"Is this White Eclipse?" One of the figures asked, walking into the main room like he owned the place, which ticked Reve off.

"Yeah, it is," Reve said, walking face to face with the tall, dirty green haired male. "What do you want with us?"

"Oh, we found it…" the male Reve was standing face to face with grinned, and suddenly, magic circles appeared all around the members present.

.

.

Wendy and Cynthia made a beeline for the train station, grinning at the fact it was just beyond the large clearing they were about to make it through…when suddenly Second Captain Odin and a numerous amount of council guards circled around them. "C-Crap!" Cynthia's eyes widened, realizing that she and Wendy literally walked right into a trap.

"Correll let you two get away, did he?" Odin shook his head a few times in disappointment towards Correll's performance. "And here I thought he could handle two little kids…"

"We aren't just kids!" Cynthia refuted. "We're proud members of Fairy Tail!" Cynthia showed Odin the guild mark on her shoulder, glaring at him.

"I noticed," Odin replied, sighing heavily. "This level idiocy could only come from such a guild…"

"What did you say…?" Wendy gave a small glare at Odin. " Odin replied. "You see, my orders are to subdue the young girl here…as for you…" Odin gave a sick grin as his glance turned to Wendy. "I think I'll have some fun with you…"

"Like heck you will!" Cynthia charged forward recklessly, pulling her arm back, then threw it forward, landing a hit in Odin's jaw, causing the male take a few steps back, rubbing his jaw.

"Ah yes…that's right, the Omega Fire Dragon Slayer…" Odin smirked still, moving his jaw around. "That's impressive power you have there…I wonder if you can do the same with your fire?"

"You really wanna know!?" Cynthia pulled her arm back, red fire engulfing her hand red fire, charging at Odin once again.

"Hmph…" Odin simply inhaled, sucking the vital element that was needed to create fire from Cynthia's hands, causing Cynthia's fire to go out just as she made weak contact with Odin's chin.

Cynthia's eyes widened as her fire vanished. "W-What the…What did you just!?"

"Tell me, Cynthia," Odin said as he wrapped hand around Cynthia's throat, lifting her into the air. "Do you know what fire is made out of?"

"O-Oxygen...E-Everyone knows that," Cynthia replied, attempting to pry Odin's hand away from her.

"Exactly. No oxygen means no fire, and fire is your main element, right? You seem to be out of luck…" A magic circle appeared on Cynthia's neck as Odin began to suck the oxygen from Cynthia's windpipes.

"Cynthia!" Wendy raised her arms over her head, "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy sent sharp winds at Odin, the attack catching him off guard as he stumbled back, glaring at Wendy. Cynthia fell to her knees, panting heavily as she attempted to catch her breath.

"W-What are you…?" Cynthia said through short breaths as Wendy helped support her up.

"My name is Odin, and I am the Second Captain of the Magic Council Enforcement Unit. I am an oxygen manipulation mage, and I use my power whenever I have to detain criminals," Odin replied, shaking off Wendy's attack. "And right now, you are quite the criminal, Miss Wendy Marvell. Attacking three officers on duty and a number of Council guards? I'm afraid to say you'll be going away for quite a long time…Luckily we have a cell with your name on it."

"You're not taking Wendy away!" Cynthia replied as darkened red flames appeared around her body. The Council guards started to move, but Odin held his arm back, signaling for them to stay back.

"They're really in trouble now, you know," Maggie said to the male in the labcoat, looking down at Odin. "Oxygen Manipulation kinda beats fire…"

"If this was a normal mage, it would seem that way, yes. But this is Cynthia…her flames are not normal," The male replied, watching Cynthia carefully, examining her every breath, her every moment, the amount of times she looked back at Wendy.

"RAAAH!" Cynthia spread her arms apart as red fire trailed from them. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" She flew forward towards Odin with her arms extended.

Odin crossed his arms, a white magic circle appearing as a high-pressurized oxygen barrier formed around his body. "O-Barrier!" Cynthia clashed with the barrier, yelping as the intense force pushed her off to the side, causing her to land on her side on the ground.

"Cynthia!" Wendy started to suck in a deep breath as a vortex of air appeared around her mouth.

"Ah ah ah…" Odin inhaled just slightly, stealing the oxygen away from Wendy as she was inhaling, cutting her breath short as she fell to her knees, gasping desperately for air. "If it involves oxygen…Odin can giveth, or taketh, away…" Odin smirked, continuing to inhale as he lowered Wendy's oxygen levels.

"Stop that; she can't breathe!" Cynthia stood up slowly, wobbling a little as she was just starting to regain her own oxygen, the red flames around her body growing darker, she started to let her emotions take control, and she had slight control over. Cynthia snapped her fingers, causing red magic circles to appear all around Odin. He had no time to reaction as the circles unleashed explosive fire that created a thin smoke cloud; when the dust cleared, he was standing still, but his outfit was ruined, and he had a few burn marks over his body. Cynthia ran to Odin's left, trying to circle around him, but it was too late as he turned his focus towards Cynthia, scowling slightly.

"You're lucky I have orders not to kill, you," Odin replied opening his mouth as he started inhaling once again.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy unleashed a sky blue hurricane towards Odin.

"O-Barrier!" A white Magic Circle appeared as Odin covered himself up with a barrier of high pressurized oxygen. Though the Sky Dragon's Roar did no real damage, he did cause Odin to slide back a few feet, now even more angry than before. "You're really starting to tick me off…" Wendy ignored Odin's words as she entered Omega Flame Sky mode, red fire and blue wing surrounding her body as her hair went up slightly.

"Roar…" Wendy sucked in a deep breath as a vortex of red fire and sky blue air formed around her mouth. "Of the Omega Sky Flame Dragon!" Wendy unleashed the massive funnel of fire and wind in Odin's direction, almost positive it could break through the barrier.

"It won't work!" Odin was still behind his barrier, increasing the pressure so the Omega Sky Flame roar wouldn't touch him; but he didn't account for one thing. Cynthia jumped from the side of the roar, infusing Wendy's Roar with her fist as the giant funnel of dark red flames and hurricane charged forward.

"Unison Raid! Omega Fire Sky Dragon's Raging Hurricane!" Cynthia threw her fist forward with the roar behind it, slamming into Odin's O-Barrier, clashing with it as magical sparks flew. Cynthia grits her teeth as she forces her fist against the high pressurized barrier, putting all the strength she could muster into the attack!

"It's useless!" Odin replied as he felt his barrier starting to wear off from the force of the attack. "Fire is fire! Your moves are useless without them!" Odin started to inhale from within the barrier, attempting to suck away the oxygen from Cynthia's flames…but he was unable to. "WHAT?!"

"You aren't…touching…Wendy!" With a battle cry, Cynthia forced her fist through the barrier, striking Odin with a direct hit, the flaming hurricane engulfing Odin's person as he flew back, heavily damaged. Cynthia landed on the ground, rubbing her arm with a smirk.

"G-Get them!" Odin replied, groaning from his injuries.

"Cynthia, grab my hand!" Wendy stuck her hand out as the guards closed in.

"I got'cha!" Cynthia grabbed Wendy's hand, a red and blue magic circle appearing below them.

"Unison Raid!" Wendy shouted, causing the magic circle under the two girls to spin clockwise rapidly. "Omega Fire Sky Dragon's Flaming Tornado!" A tornado of wind and red fire shot up from the magic circle, drawing in all the Council guards into the tornado; within a few minutes, the tornado exploded, throwing all the Council guards away, leaving the path clear.

"We did it" Cynthia grinned, starting to feel slightly exhausted from magic usage.

"Bloody hell…" Maggie's eyes widened at the spectacle she just witnessed, while the male next to her grinned, obviously impressed.

"Just as I thought…those flames aren't flames, those are her emotions," the male said quietly, his grin turning into a smirk. "You can suck the oxygen out of flames, but you can't suck the oxygen out of emotions."

"But flames are bloody flames, aren't they!?" Maggie protested, realizing what she just witnessed went against the most basic law of science.

"Not when it's MY research," The male replied.

"That doesn't even make any…oh, I'm done with trying to understand you, nutter…" Maggie just sighed.

"Let's get out of here…" Wendy returned the grin, taking one step forward…only to be weighed down by the force of gravity right next to Cynthia. "GAH!" A wounded Correll walked from the shadows, gripping his side, panting slightly. "I always get my criminals…" Correll said, grinning victoriously.

"W-WAH!" Cynthia struggled to free herself from the gravity, but just like before, it was in vain. Correll pulled out the magic sealing cuffs once more, a smirk drawn on his face.

"That doesn't look good…" Maggie said quietly, looking to the male next to her to give her a signal to interfere like before, but no signal came. The male only watched intently as Correll neared Cynthia. "Are we gonna do something or not!?" Maggie shouted, groaning.

"D-Don't take Cynthia away! Please!" Wendy whined; starting to tear up as Correll smacked the cuffs on Cynthia, her magic now sealed.

"Don't worry," Correll replied. "You'll be going away for quite a long time too…" Correll pulled out another set of Magic sealing cuffs, and just as he was going to slap them on Wendy, a fist struck Correll right in the ace, sending him flying back. A quick slash also removed the cuffs around Cynthia's arms, freeing her.

"W-Who!?" Wendy looked up; her jaw dropping as a smile quickly appeared on her face. Natsu, Happy, Carla, Gajeel, Patherlily, Lucy, Lucy's spirit Cancer, Gray, Laxus, Juvia, and Erza were standing around the two girls protectively, glaring at the council guard who dared lay a finger on them.


	43. Chapter 43: Vs The Council Part 4

"N-Natsu-san, Lucy-san…Gray-san, Erza-san, Laxus-san…Juvia-san…?!" Wendy had never felt more relived in her life to see her guild members. "C-Carla?! How did you guys!?"

"I kept feeling uneasy…so even though I was an hour behind, I went as fast as I could to catch up with the train you took…" Carla explained. "I was following you the entire time, and when Doranbolt appeared, I flew back as fast as I could to Fairy Tail…"

"You were following us…?" Cynthia blinked, and then shook her head slowly as she realized that wasn't important.

"The Calvary?" Correll asked as he rubbed his face from Natsu's punch, looking at the group of Fairy Tail wizards.

"Who do you think you are to lay a hand on either one of them…?" Natsu asked in a deep, menacing tone.

"Third Captain of the Magic Council enforcement unit…Correll…" Correll replied. "Those two girls are in a lot of trouble, you see. Attacking three on duty officers…"

"They wouldn't have attacked if you left them alone!" Lucy shouted, forcing a gate closure on Cancer to conserve her magic energy

"My, my…" The First captain, Aloy walked from the shadows, shaking his head. "What seems to be the problem now, Correll?"

"F-First Captain!" Correll stood up straight, saluting at the presence of the first captain.

"Who's this guy?" Gray asked, narrowing his eyes at Aloy.

"First Captain, Aloy," Aloy replied to Gray. "Now, Fairy Tail, what seems to be the problem?"

"Your friends are trying to talk away two of our guild members," Laxus replied, his arms crossed as faint traces of electricity danced around his body, meaning he was ready to attack in case things went south.

"Oh, I see…" Aloy shook his head slowly. "You see…we have orders to take in the girl known as Cynthia…she is a threat to the country of Fiore and she needs to be detained…"

"Screw that!" Natsu shouted. "She's a member of Fairy Tail, and if she's a problem, she's OUR problem and we will handle it!"

"I'm afraid this problem is a lot larger than you can comprehend, Salamander," Aloy replied, keeping his eyes trained on Natsu, prepared if the hot headed Salamander attempted to strike.

"No," Erza started. "When we are unable to handle it, that is when it becomes a big problem, and Cynthia is not a problem or a threat, nor will she ever been one."

"E-Erza…" Cynthia felt a warm feeling in her chest from everyone standing up for her and what she wanted to be.

"I think it's quite noble to stick up for your family, as you call them," Aloy replied. "But she, and Wendy Marvell, are criminals, and it is my job to apprehend them both."

"You'll have to go through us first, bub," Gajeel said, pounding his fist together.

"I really do not want to do this…" Aloy sighed, shaking his head slowly. "But, Natsu Dragneel, you are under arrest for attacking an officer on duty…"

"You're gonna have a hard time taking me in!" Natsu glared deeply at Aloy, who seemed unfazed.

"I'll be damned…" Maggie said quietly. "You knew this was coming, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," The male replied, rubbing his chin.

"Unless higher criminals than you appeared, I'm afraid this is the end for you, Fairy Tail," Aloy said with a tiny smirk.

"Juvia will do whatever she needs to do to protect Wendy-san and Cynthia-san," Juvia said with a glare towards Aloy and the surrounding Council guards.

"Aye, sir!" Happy nodded in agreement, getting in a battle ready position.

"So be it…" Aloy smirked, a gold heavenly glow appearing around his body. "Meteor…" He flew up, and at a blinding speed, he aimed a punch at Natsu, but his punch was blocked by Laxus, who had electricity dancing around his body.

"L-Laxus, I could've blocked that!" Natsu yelled out.

"No you couldn't have," Laxus replied as Aloy jumped back, impressed by Laxus's speed.

"Impressive…" Aloy said. "I wouldn't expect any less from Laxus Dreyar…"

"You ain't ready for the big…" A voice from above said.

"What the…?" Correll looked up, spotting a figure holding a large hammer in his hands. "MOVE!" Everyone looked up, noticing the figure.

"BANG!" The figure slammed the hammer into the ground just as everyone rolled out of the way; the hammer's impact caused a giant explosion, creating a large smoke cloud, and separating the two groups.

"What the hell was that!?" Gajeel asked as he sprang up, looking around, unable to see anything through the smoke.

"WHO was that is the better question…" Erza replied, looking around.

"Wendy, are you okay?" Cynthia asked, supporting Wendy up.

"I'm fine…" Wendy gave a small nod as she stood up. When the smoke cleared, several figures, including Maggie were now in front of the council, causing their eyes to widen.

"Fancy meeting you blokes here," Maggie smirked to the Council guards.

"What…?! Who are these guys?!" A Council Guard asked as his eyes widened.

"T-Tartaros...and Silent Sanctum!" Correll replied.

"Tartaros, Silent Sanctum!? What are these two doing here?!" Odin replied, finally recovering from his injuries with his battle with Wendy and Cynthia as he made his way over to Correll and Aloy.

"We heard members of the Council were all but here," A male with knight's armor, short reddish hair replied, holding a hammer in both of his arms, smirking widely.

"That's the Deadly Blade…Byron!" Correll said in shock.

"Heartless bastard works too," Byron replied, changing the hammer he had in his hands with double swords.

"What do we do, we're too weak to fight…" Odin asked, gripping his chest.

"We cannot fight them; we must allow Wendy Marvell and Cynthia to escape for the time being," Aloy replied.

"But Aloy!" Correll protested.

"It's a losing fight," Aloy replied, looking at the shadows of the members of Lethal Sanctum, and the Fairy Tail wizards observing from the sidelines. "We're outnumbered, injured, and outmatched. We have to deal with these mages first before we can deal with Fairy Tail."

"Tch…fall back, men…" Odin said through a heavy scowl as he, Correll, and the guards fell back. The Fairy Tail wizards used this time to escape on the train, except for Laxus, who morphed into a bolt of lightning and went back to Fairy Tail because he didn't want to deal with the motion sickness as the train rode off. Aloy eyed the figures of the Lethal Sanctum mages before giving a wink to Maggie, smirking as he used Meteor to fly off.

"That went well," Byron replied with a smirk as the Council fell back.

A tall mall with red hair walked forward, a cigarette in his mouth. He was wearing a black and red tee along with red pants and shoes. He shook his head slowly, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to blow some smoke out. "I suppose so," he replied.

"I wish we could've killed them though…" Byron shrugged. "Right, Horoki?"

"Mhm," Horoki replied, placing the cigarette back into his mouth.

"You know that would've been against my orders," The male in the lab coat walked forward with his hands behind his back, shaking his head slightly. "The orders were to simply make sure Cynthia remained out of the Council's hands. There is no need for violence as the first solution.

"That's boring!" Byron protested, a heavenly light appearing around his double swords as a blood red sword appeared in his hand. "My sword was begging to taste their blood!"

"You did the job I asked of you," The male replied, smirking. "Now, where did…"

"They had an errand to run," Horoki replied, smirking slightly. "They went to send a message to another well-known guild."

"I see…" The male brought his hand to his chin. "Your mission for now has been completed, and I will tell your master that you did an exceptional job."

"What about uh…Cynthia?" Bryon asked, scratching his head.

"She is not ready yet, and the Council will be more focused on you than on her now, which should give her ample time to become as strong as I want her to be before we initiate the takeover of Fiore." The male nodded slowly.

"Oi…thanks…whatever your name is…" Maggie scoffed slightly, crossing her arms.

"My name? Oh dear, I can't believe I've yet to tell you. My name Aiden Viscard." Aiden nodded slowly.

"And who's this Cynthia girl you so desperately want to keep tabs on?" Horoki asked.

"Oh, her name is Cynthia Viscard; and she is my daughter."

.

.

On the train ride back to Magnolia, three out of four Dragon Slayers were groaning loudly from the motion sickness. "Ugh…." Natsu fell on the floor on his stomach, his eyes white as his face turned blue.

"I hate this…" Cynthia was lying her head on Wendy's lap again as Wendy rubbed her stomach for some relief.

"What the heck was THAT all about!?" Carla yelled out.

"The Council was after Cynthia! And I had to protect her!" Wendy replied.

"I know that," Carla sighed, placing her paws on her hips. "I meant, WHY are they after Cynthia!?"

"They think she's a threat to Fiore…" Wendy sighed, frowning.

"Why would they think that…?" Erza asked, keeping a sharp eye around in case anyone was following them, though it seemed unlikely. Cynthia sighed, and began to explain the entire story she told Wendy about where she came from and why the Council is after her, taking up most of the train ride.

"If you want to turn me in…" Cynthia started, groaning slightly.

"N-No!" Wendy put her arms around Cynthia protectively. "Don't turn her in…"

"We're not going to," Gray replied, nodding. "If she becomes a threat, then it's our problem to deal with, not theirs."

"Juvia agrees with Gray-sama!" Juvia nodded as hearts entered her eyes.

"Can we just get off this train…?" Gajeel groaned quietly, embarrassed that his tough attitude was easily broken by a train ride of all things. After what seemed like an eternity to the Dragon Slayers, which was only an hour in real time, the train ride stopped and the Fairy Tail wizards made their way back to Fairy Tail. Everything relating to the Council's chase for Cynthia went quiet…


	44. Chapter 44: Luke and Lucy

Two weeks passed, and the Council hadn't made a move on Fairy Tail to get Cynthia. Though this brought relief to the guild, a few of the members couldn't help but remain on edge, such as Erza, who always remained vigilant. Cynthia was instructed to always leave the guild with at least one other person on her side in case the Council tried something. Lucy decided to do a little shopping, so Cynthia decided to accompany her, wanting to be some kind of help. The two were walking down the semi-crowded streets of Magnolia with shopping bags in hand. "Thanks for helping me shop, Cynthia," Lucy said to the girl with a smile.

"I just wanted to be helpful!" Cythia replied, giving a nod.

"Oh, Cynthia!" Lucy started, remembering something.

"What is it?" Cynthia replied, looking up at Lucy.

"You know Wendy's birthday is coming up soon?" Lucy asked, sliding out of the way of a passerby.

"Wha!? It is!?" Cynthia nearly dropped the grocery bags she was carrying. "When is it?!"

"The end of the month!" Lucy replied. "It's the second of August today…so…the 31st!"

"I have to get her something…!" Cynthia nodded to herself. "I'll go on jobs and start saving money!"

"That's the spirit!" Lucy said with a cheerful grin. She then bumped into the shoulder of a male walking past her, so she turned around to apologize. "Oh, I'm so…" She stopped when she realized who it was she had bumped into. Luke turned around, groaning. "Watch it!" Lucy yelled.

"You're the one who bumped into ME," Luke replied, obviously very annoyed. "So where's my apology?"

"You don't get one, of course!" Lucy smirked. "I'm not even sorry, so there."

"I'm not in the mood for your irritating attitude, Heartfilia…" Luke groaned, looking eye to eye with Lucy.

"Oooh, you're using my last name, I'm so scared," Lucy replied with a sarcastic tone. Cynthia blinked; this was a different side of Lucy she had only seen whenever Lucy and Luke met like this.

"Okay you know what…" Luke leaned in, glaring into Lucy's eyes before pulling away with a smirk. "I'm not even going to let this bother me; the loser has no right to taunt to winner."

"What did you say…?" Lucy narrowed her eyes a bit more hatefully at Luke, realizing how quickly he was turning the tables.

"You heard me," Luke replied as his smirk grew. "Loser, three times in a row, shame isn't it?"

"I'll beat you the next time! I'll make sure of it!" Lucy yelled, her temper starting to uncap.

"That's what you said before we fought the third time…And I still won, you went down really easy that time…" Luke said, grinning tauntingly at the memory. Lucy couldn't think of a comeback for that one, he was right. Her performance in their third battle was terrible, laughable. He made her look like a laughing stock in front of everyone.

"I…" Lucy started, and then she looked down shamefully, unable to find any words.

"Exactly," Luke shrugged. "Better luck next time," he said as he walked off.

"Lucy…?" Cynthia looked up at Lucy, who quickly replaced the frown on her face with a faint smile. "Come on, Cynthia. Let's go…"

"What was that about Lucy...why does he act like that even though he cares a lot about you...?" Cynthia asked, tilting her head slowly.

"He doesn't care..." Lucy mumbled. "Not anymore..." The blonde celestial mage muttered quietly to herself as images of a certain time played back in her head, sighing after.

"Lucy..."Cynthia frowned.

Luke walked off, grumbling to himself about the incident White Eclipse had a few days ago with two mages; the flashback replaying in his head over and over.

{Flashback}

Everyone let out a scream of pain as the magic circles around them exploded, sending a violent pain throughout their entire body. Reve backed away, pulling out a pistol as he took aim at the green haired male. "Ah ah ah…" the figure next to the male replied, wagging a finger as they brought Aira in front of the male with some sort of telekinesis. "I wouldn't do that if I were you…"

"Aira!" Selene shouted, holding her sides as she started to recover from the sudden magic.

"L-Let me go…!" Aira attempted to struggle free, but she was unable to.

"…Tch…" Reve put his gun down, glaring at the two figures. "Who are you?"

"The name's Aloysius," he replied, smirking. "My…partner and I were given orders to send you a message."

"So you attack my guild?" Calium replied, his magical energy starting to rise as the building began to shake.

"Sit down, old man…" the other figure next to Aloysius replied, closing her fist as she started to crush Aira's bones.

"Stop that!" Nami pleaded.

"Speak…" Sidney demanded.

"Oh we will…" the figure threw Aira to Selene, who caught her. Aloysius turned around, large magic circles appearing around every guild member present. Aloysius then whispered, "Rapture…" and snapped his fingers, causing the magical energy in all the mages to explode violently as Aloysius and his comrade left white Eclipse, grinning at the scream of agony echoing from the mountains.

{End flashback}

"I'll get those bastards back for sure next time," Luke said as he made his way through the streets of Magnolia, unsure of where he was really going. "And I'll be sure to shut Lucy up once and for all..." It was then that a small idea popped into his head.


	45. Chapter 45: Fairy Tail vs White Eclipse

Another week passed since Fairy Tail nearly got into war with the Council. The Council made no moves against Fairy Tail still, leaving room to believe they truly dropped the search for whatever reason. Back at White Eclipse, things were going as normal, almost as if they weren't jumped by Aloysius and the other mysterious mage. Takeru was in the kitchen with Selene, huddled in the corner with a Key Lime pie in his lap. "Mine…" Takeru said in a possessive voice, not caring how he looked to the others. Kuro walked into the kitchen, immediately going for a bag of noodles when he noticed Takeru huddle in the corner.

"Is he okay…?" Kuro tilted his head slowly, brushing his read hair from on his shoulder.

"We just discovered how much he loves pie…" Selene replied with a slight shrug, pulling off a blueberry pie from the oven and walking into the main room.

"So we make pies now?" Reve raised an eyebrow.

"They're great!" Jaxon nodded with a grin.

"Ridiculous…" Reve sighed before taking every single pie that was made and not consumed and threw them all in the garbage without a care in the world.

"The pie…" Aira poked her lower lip out as she pouted.

"Waste of time," Taya replied. Reve would normally agree with Taya's comment, but he choose to ignore it as he was still upset with Taya for leaving during the fight with Erza; the one time he wanted her there.

"We should be spending our time doing important things anyway," Reve said, dusting his hands off.

"Like what?" Waiston replied, chewing on a piece of ice.

"Well, for starters, I want everyone in here. I think it's about time we settled things with Fairy Tail," Reve smirked slightly.

"Settling this with Fairy Tail?" A voice said from behind Reve.

"GAH!" Reve nearly jumped, turning around to see a teenage boy with black hair, purple eyes, wearing a collared shirt and pants behind him. "Nightwalker, stop doing that!"

"Did he scare you?" A blonde hair girl replied with a tiny smirk.

"Oh, Heather…nice to see you too," Reve smirked. "In fact, it's great to see both of you back here, we were just about to visit Fairy Tail…"

.

.

Fairy Tail was booming with excitement as usual; Gajeel and Natsu were the ones fighting around the guild for no reason time around, causing Cynthia to giggle. "Does Natsu fight with EVERYONE in here…?" She asked, watching the two dragon slayers rolling around on the floor yelling at each other.

"Pretty much…" Lisanna replied, chuckling nervously. "But, he wouldn't be Natsu if he didn't." She gave a small genuine giggle as Natsu and Gajeel were screaming and shouting at each other.

"They make a great team, don't they?" Cynthia said, hoping for a positive answer to renforce her point she's made before about rivals making good teams.

"They do!" Lucy replied with a nod. "You know, when they aren't doing this…"

"I called it!" Cynthia grinned widely, hopping up from her seat as the sight of Natsu and Gajeel fighting started to get riled up. "I wanna fight now!" Cynthia looked around the guild, looking around to see if anyone around was willing to fight. "Come on, where are the fighters!?" Cynthia asked, punching the air a few times so show she was serious.

"They got her all riled up now…" Mirajane giggled at Cynthia from behind the bar.

Wendy cracked a small smile, watching as Cynthia literally threw herself into Natsu and Gajeel's fight just for the sake of wanting to fight. "She's always been one to fight someone…"

"I don't see the girl as any kind of threat…" Mirajane then spoke in a serious tone. "If she has any problems, it's ours to deal with…"

"Hai…" Wendy nodded slowly, remembering the battles she and Cynthia had against the Council a few weeks ago, still feeling uneasy since they haven't heard a single word from the Council since.

Happy and Patherlily watched Natsu, Gajeel, and Cynthia go at it. "Go, Natsu!" Happy cheered, raising his arms high.

"Gajeel will win, obviously," Lily said with a smirk as he crossed his arms.

"No way, Natsu's got this!" Happy nodded, grinning.

"Gajeel," Lily replied, pressing his forehead against Happy's.

"NATSU!" Happy pressed his forehead against Lily's in a rivalry fashion.

The doors to Fairy Tail sudden flew open, and several members…no, all of White Eclipse walked in. Luke, Reve, Zalen, Heather, Nightwalker, Kuro, Waiston, Aira, Selene, Takeru, Sidney, Nami, Taya, Zain, Michio, Jaxon, Jack, Cygnus, and Master Calium walked in. "Well well…" Reve said, looking at the Fairy Tail guild.

"What are YOU guys doing here?!" Natsu asked, jumping up from his fight with Gajeel and Cynthia as he glared at the White Eclipse mages.

"You better not have come to cause trouble," Markarov glared at Calium, knowing he was the Master of White Eclipse and didn't forgive Calium for allowing his White Eclipse members to harm his Fairy Tail children.

"Of course not…" Calium replied.

"They WHY are you here…?" Erza asked, exchanging glares with Reve.

"We have a proposal," Reve said, keeping his eyes locked with Erza's.

"And what might that be?" Markarov asked.

"We're always going back and forth between who the strongest guild in Fiore is, right?" Luke asked, smirking slightly. "Though there really is no competition…." He added.

"We're the best!" Cynthia commented, unsure why she did. "I mean…carry on…"

"Well, how about we settle it?" Reve smirked.

"You wanna go right now!?" Natsu engulfed his right hand in flames as he smirked at every single White Eclipse mage present. I'll take you all down!" Natsu lunged forward, only to have a giant hand come down and one hit KO him.

"Calm down, Natsu," Marakrov said. "We don't even know what they're really proposing."

"Ten members from each guild, randomly picked, fight," Zalen explained. "When a member loses, they are out of the tournament, if you will." Zalen took off his glasses, cleaning them as he went on to explain. "If two fighters tie, they are out of the tournament anyway, and this continues until one guild's members all lose."

"That's it?" Gray asked, smirking. "Well, I guess these will be a short ten battles, Fairy Tail is gonna win."

"YEAH!" The background characters shouted in unison, the idea of showing they were really number one riling them up.

"Calm down, stripper boy," Luke replied. "We don't even know who's in yet."

"When do we find out?" Mirajane asked, unable to hide her evil smirk as she planned on giving every White Eclipse member a showing of her full power if she was picked.

"Here," Calium handed a hand to Markarov. "Inside the hat is a list of names from our guild. You will select the guild members randomly so it doesn't look like we rigged it."

"Hrm…" Marakrov dug his hand in the hat, pulling out a small white slip of paper. "Luke Cloud."

"Game over," Luke said with a smirk. "Might as well pack up now."

Markarov ignored the comment as he kept going. "Kuro Crane."

"Yay!" Kuro grinned excitedly. "This is going to be great!"

Marakrov continued down the list, pulling out the third slip of paper. "Aira Aeolus."

"Me?" Aira blinked a few times. "I'll do my best for the name of the guild!"

"Takeru." Marakrov read from the next slip of paper.

"Heh…aren't we getting lucky?" Takeru smirked, crossing his arms.

"Waiston Tunundra," Marakrov read on.

"Alright! This is going to get good!"

"Reve Volver," Markarov continued.

"Ohp, look at that, the game is already sealed." Reve smirked, his eyes never leaving Erza's.

"Cygnus Gwydion."

"Oh, well this is going to be easy…" Cygnus smirked.

"Selene Marquise."

"Me too? Well, I'll do my best," Selene replied.

"Heather."

"Me!?" Heather looked up with a smirk.

"And last but not least…" Markarov read the last slip of paper. "Sidney Castle."

"OOOH!" Waiston couldn't help but let out his excitement. "IT'S OVER FAIRIES! …I mean…No I mean that!"

"Tch, I'll be sure to knock you all down!" Natsu said with a smirk, seemingly recovered from Marakrov's hit earlier. He eyed Sidney with a glare, praying that he was picked so he could have a chance at beating Sidney.

"Here, Master," Mirajane said as she handed Calium a hat with a list of names with all the Fairy Tail guild members.

"Thank you," Calium replied, taking the first slip of paper from the hat. "Gray Fullbuster."

"Heh, looks like it's over for you guys," Gray said with a smirk as he stood up, his shirt gone.

"Juvia will cheer Gray-sama on!" Juvia waved her hands before sighing dreamily.

"Wendy Marvell," Calium read on.

"M-Me?" Wendy blinked a few times, not expecting her name out of all the others to be called, but she went with it anyway. "I'll do my best!"

Calium cleared his throat before pulling out the third slip of paper, "Cynthia."

"W-What!? Me!? I get to fight!?" Cynthia grinned, standing up on the nearest table, resting her hands on her sides as she gave a confident expression. "LET'S GOOOO!"

"Lisanna Strauss."

Lisanna blinked at the mention of her name, waving her hands around frantically. "I-I'm not much a fighter…you see…" Her expression then changed as she realized what was at stake. "But I will fight if it has to do with Fairy Tail…!"

"That's my sister!" Elfman grinned widely, proud of Lisanna's decision to fight.

"Levy McGarden."

"W-What!? Me?!" Levy shook her head, just surprised that she was picked. "Let's go!"

"Natsu Dragneel."

"YES!" Natsu grinned, pointing his fiery fist at Sidney. "I'm gonna take you down!"

"Keep dreaming, Salamander," Sidney replied.

Calium continued, "Lucy Heartfilia."

"Alright…" Lucy nodded slowly; she was hoping for this; she and Luke on opposite teams. She would prove to him that she wasn't weak if she got the chance to fight him.

"Gajeel Redfox."

"Gihehe, finally, a chance to pound some of you guys into the ground. I like it." Gajeel smirked widely.

"Elfman Strauss."

"Man!" Elfman raised a fist into the air, grinning widely. "I'll show you the power of Fairy Tail!"

"Don't lose, you idiot…" Evergreen commented from the side.

"And last but not least…Gildarts Clive." Calium read with a straight face.

"OH!" Cynthia hopped up and down on the table. "IT'S OVER FOR YOU GUYS! …I mean…No I meant that."

"So, Reve, Takeru, Luke, Aira, Selene, Cygnus, Heather, Kuro, Waiston, and Sidney, vs. Fairy Tail's Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Wendy, Cynthia, Lisanna, Elfman, Lucy, Levy, and Gildarts…" Calium said aloud. "These should be some interesting matches…"

"Fairy Tail is going to win!" Lucy raised the Fairy Tail insignia up, pointing her index finger and thumb out, everyone else doing the same.

"Fairy Tail has, and always will be number one!" Natsu grinned. "And we're going to prove it…When is this taking place?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Calium replied, turning his back as he started walking out of Fairy Tail.

"I wish I got picked…" Mirajane mumbled as she took a rag and cleaned off the bar.

"You'd kill them…" Cana commented.

Mirajane looked up at Cana with the most innocent smile she could muster. "…Luke wouldn't be missed, right?"


	46. Chapter 46: FT vs WE Round 1

One day later. It's time for the biggest guild showdown of all time; even bigger than Sabertooth vs. Fairy Tai; Fairy Tail vs. White Eclipse. White Eclipse has been on a winning record against Fairy Tail for a long time now, so it's not so surprising they call themselves the strongest guild in Fiore. In a large green open field that was on the edge of multiple areas, such as a forest, a lake, and a mountain trail, the two guilds stood on opposite ends of the field Fairy Tail to the left and White Eclipse to the right. Team Fairy Tail walked forward, all smirking. Arcturus, as a way of saying sorry for not being around when the challenge was issued, presented Masters Calium and Markarov with a lacrima for randomizing matches, to make things easier. "Thank you, Arc," Calium said with a slight smile. "Will you be watching the entire tournament?" Calium asked, knowing Arc's tendency to not hang around much.

"I suppose I will," Arc replied, nodding slowly.

"Excellent," Calium replied before holding the lacrima he received up in the air, a screen with all the members of both sides appearing overhead.

"Alright!" Markarov turned to Team Fairy Tail, holding up the Fairy Tail symbol. "You're going to make this guild proud today, I can feel it!"

"We'll do our best, Master!" Cynthia grinned. Cynthia wore a sleeveless green shirt, purple pants, and black boots. She was really excited to be a part of the team that will bring Fairy Tail to truly number one.

"That's right, we're gonna kick their asses!" Natsu grinned, pounding a fist into an open palm.

"You wish!" Luke yelled from afar.

"I'm coming for you!" Natsu ignored Luke and pointed at Sidney, scowling at the memory of the one hit KO Natsu went through in his fight against Sidney. He was going to change that when they fought.

"Do your best," Cailum told Team White Eclipse, giving a small nod.

"I just hope they can keep up," Reve replied with a smirk, twirling a pistol around in his hands. "Because we're about to take the title of number one."

"You can do it, guys!" Mirajane waved from the sidelines; still a little upset her siblings got the chance to battle instead of her. She REALLY wanted to place her hands on Luke and Michio's skulls and just squeeze until they…oh my.

"The matches are going to be randomized, this way things can be exciting," Aira grinned slightly, warming up before possibly being the first one to fight. Sidney ignored Natsu's glare as he prepared himself.

"There are going to be breaks every two matches," Marakrov said aloud so everyone could hear, walking over to Team Fairy Tail's sidelines along everyone else in the guild.

"Shall we get the first match started?" Calium asked, standing over by Team White Eclipse.

"YEAH!" Both sides shouted in unison.

"Excellent," Calium waved a hand, commanding the lacrima to randomize the matches. The picture on the left, flashed from Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Levy, Lisanna, Elfman, Cynthia, Wendy, Gajeel, and Gildarts rapidly; eventually, the image stopped on Lisanna. "Lisanna Strassus, vs…" The image to the right then flashed from Reve, Luke, Kuro, Waiston, Aira, Takeru, Heather, Selene, Cygnus, and Sidney before it eventually stopped on Luke. "Luke Cloud."

"Huh, I guess I'm up first," Luke said, stretching out a bit before walking into the middle of the field.

"I'm first?" Lisanna took a deep breath before walking forward, standing a few paces away from Luke. "I'll do my best…"

"Go Lisanna!" Mirajane cheered with the biggest smile on her face, thinking to herself; "If he hurts her too badly I'll kill him."

"Go Lisanna!" Wendy cheered as she went to the slid to the sidelines with everyone else.

"Don't lose, Cloud, otherwise there's gonna be a bullet with your name on it!" Reve said with a smirk, walking to the sidelines along with everyone else.

"Don't worry…" Luke smirked, placing his hands in his pockets as he eyed Lisanna, thinking is was somewhat attractive. "Hm…Stay in the game, Luke…that's what almost got you last time…" He shook his head, preparing himself. "Ladies first," Luke said, smirking slightly.

"If you insist…" A magic circle appearing above Lisanna as her appearance started changing into the form of a tigress. Her body remained mostly humanoid and her hair short hair grew slightly longer. Concentrated stripped patterns appeared around her forearms along with feline-like pads on the surface of her palms and razor sharp claw like fingertips. Along with this, she also sports tigress ears, a small feline nose, whiskers, and a long tail. Other than that, and her attire now a two piece tiger-skin bikini, everything else about Lisanna remained the same. Lisanna then charged forward at Luke with her arms pulled back, swiping at his body with her sharp claws rapidly.

"Holy…" Luke shook his head, watching as Lisanna neared him at an intense speed. He swayed his body from left to right, barely avoiding Lisanna's furious swipes, also causing him to take a few steps back. "She's fast; I'll give her that…" Luke thought to himself as one of Lisanna's claws cut through his jacket.

"Whoa, go Lisanna!" Cynthia cheered as she saw that Lisanna's onslaught forced Luke to go on the defensive.

"Tch, this is getting old fast…" Luke stuck his arm out, grabbing Lisanna's wrist just as she was about to land a scratch on his chest. "Let's try something else," Luke smirked, pivoting on his left foot, shifting all his weight to his left as he spun around, hurling Lisanna away. Luke then placed his hands into his palm, a chilling wind surrounding his ankles as a blue magic circle appeared in front of him. "Ice Make: Hammer!" A crystalized ice hammer flew from the magic circle, launching itself at Lisanna.

"Ah!" Lisanna let out a yelp of surprise as she was flung, but her appearance quickly changed, entering her Animal Soul: Wings. Her body returning to normal, but her arms changed into wings which she quickly used to recover from the sudden throw, though she didn't have any time to react to the ice hammer that slammed into her body, sending her spiraling back, eventually recovering with a small flip. "Ugh…"

"Don't rest now!" Luke said as he ran towards Lisanna, engulfing his hands in fire and electricity. Lisanna's legs changed to the talons of a bird, which she quickly utilized to keep Luke at bay by kicking her talons rapidly.

"Whoa!" Luke moved his body from side to side, Lisanna's speed almost getting the best of him. He found and opening, so he ducked low, and brought his fist to Lissanna's chin, forcing her to go up from the force of it; but before she could go too high, Luke grabbed Lisanna's leg and threw her to the ground, jumping high into the air after, firing off a thunderbolt from his hands down at Lisanna.

"Eep!" Lisanna rolled out of the way just in time, the thunderbolt hitting the ground instead of her; Lisanna quickly changed back into her Tigress Animal Takeover and ran towards the falling Luke, scoring several scratches on his midsection with her sharp claws, causing the copy mage to step back, and a smirk to appear on the takeover mage's face.

"Slipping up, Luke!" Reve shouted from the sidelines. "You're not gonna let a girl beat you, are you?" Reve smirked, knowing his comment would spark something in Luke's head to make him try harder in this battle.

Lisanna changed back into her half bird Animal Takeover once again, taking flight into the air, and preformed looped, increasing her momentum as she nosedived at Luke. "That's not going to work!" Luke smirked, pulling his arm back confidently…but he wasn't expecting Lisanna to use her momentum and transform into a large penguin, crushing Luke into the ground with her weight.

"GO LISANNA!" Lucy cheered. "Do it again! Crush him! …I mean…No I meant that."

Luke groaned form underneath Lisanna, who clearly wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon. "I know it's rude to call a girl heavy…but…" He allowed electricity to spark around his body, sending an upward current into Lisanna's body, shocking the takeover mage as she returned to her normal human form, wincing as electricity danced wildly around her body as she took a few steps back. "Keep up!" Luke jumped, spinning his body as he landed a spinning roundhouse kick to Lisanna's side, her eyes widening as she felt a small crack. She took a few steps back, holding her side, panting.

"Ugh…" Lisanna winced from the pain slightly, using the space to catch her breath.

"Is she okay!?" Wendy asked.

"Lisanna can do it…" Mirajane nodded slowly, hopefully.

"Hm…" Zain eyed Lisanna's posture carefully, noticing something, but decided to keep quiet about it for the time being.

"Are you done?" Luke asked, tapping his foot impatiently. In fact, he didn't even wait for a response; he snapped his fingers, causing a yellow magic circle to appear underneath Lisanna's feet. Before the takeover mage could react, a strong discharge shot up from the magic circle, shocking the girl as she let out a strangled groan, falling to her knees, panting heavily.

"Come on, Lisanna! You can do it!" Natsu cheered from the sidelines, putting all of his faith in Lisanna.

Lisanna stood up slowly, changing once again into her Tigress animal takeover, panting heavily. "I have to fight…for Fairy Tail!"

"Chain takeovers…would be useful if she was more adept in battle…" Luke thought to himself, making a motion for Lisanna to "bring it".

"YAH!" With that battle cry, Lisanna pounced forward, aiming herself to land on top of Luke. The copy mage rolled out of way, watching as Lisanna hit the ground, seemingly disorientated.

"Guess I'll finish it here!" With a smirk, Luke swung his left leg forward, aiming at Lisanna's head for the knockout blow…but Lisanna caught his leg with her arm, smirking. "W-What!?"

"Don't underestimate a mage of Fairy Tail!" Lisanna's smirked widening, and she used her free claw, swinging up upward at Luke's chest, creating a gash in his chest. Luke let out a cry of pain as Lisanna released his leg, causing him to stumble back. Lisanna then lunged forward, using this as an opportunity to unleash a furious barrage of swipes at her opponent, almost all of them connect as scratch marks appeared on her opponents body. However this only kept up for a few seconds as Luke started fighting back, sending his own flurry of punches at the takeover mage, striking all over her body like her time him, the two locked in intense close combat.

"Come on, Lisanna!" Mirajane and Happy cheered from the sidelines.

"Come on, Luke!" Kuro cheered his the sidelines, waving his hands around.

"Don't let her get you, Cloud!" Reve shouted, cupping his hands near his mouth to amplify his voice.

Luke and Lisanna remained locked in high speed close combat as both of their guild members cheered them on intensely. Lisanna ducked one of Luke's punches, then grabbed his wrist, much similar to how he did to her; using her own strength she hurled Luke away, causing the White Eclipse mage to tumble on the ground before coming to a complete stop. As Luke rolled, Lisanna changed into her half bird Animal Takeover once again flying into the air, then coming down low with her wings spread out as a fiery blue aura flared and wrapped itself around her body.

"W-What is that…?!" Cynthia asked in amazement.

"L-Lisanna…" Elfman's eyes widened at Lisanna's fighting spirit, he never felt more proud of his little sister than this moment.

"Luke, watch out!" Selene yelled from the sidelines.

Luke finally got his balance just in time to see Lisanna coming at him; he pulled his fist back, ice, fire, electricity, and shadows swirling around his fist. "Don't underestimate a mage from White Eclipse either!" Luke threw his elemental fist as Lisanna neared him, the two magical powers clashing powerfully as shockwave boomed through the area, shaking the ground just a little as the magical power became too much and created a large explosion, which also created a large dust cloud.

"W-What happened?!" Mirajane asked, standing up from her seat.

"L-Lisanna…!" Happy covered his ears from the explosion, looking on in the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Luke was hunching over slightly, heavily damaged from Lisanna's last attack. Lisanna was on the ground, in her normal human form, breathing lightly. She was passed out.

"Lisanna…!" Lucy covered her mouth as she gasped.

"Heh, that's right," Reve smirked, speaking quietly.

"Lisanna is not able to continue…" Calium spoke slowly just in case Lisanna happened to get up; he was aware Fairies had the tendency to get up when down, but Lisanna wasn't getting up. "Luke Cloud of White Eclipse is the winner." Lisanna's image on the lacrima screen faded out and a large white X appeared over it. Luke walked back to Team White Eclipse with a slight limp, and cuts all over his body from Lisanna's furious scratching.

"Not bad, Cloud," Reve said, patting the mage on the back.

"Lisanna!" Mirajane and Wendy rushed to Lisanna.

"I'll heal her!" Wendy placed her hands over Lisanna's body, healing as a sea green light emitted from her hands.

"So, that makes the score White Eclipse ten, Fairy Tail nine. Don't worry, we'll make this quick," Reve put his hands together like a gun, pretending to fire at every single member on Team Fairy Tail.


	47. Chapter 47: FT vs WE Round 2

Previously on Fairy Tail: White Eclipse challenge Fairy Tail to a ten on ten single match tournament. Team Fairy Tail consists of Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Levy McGarden, Wendy Marvell, Cynthia, Lisanna and Elfman Strauss, Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, and Gildarts Clive. Team White Eclipse consists of Luke Cloud, Reve Volver, Kuro Crane, Waiston Tunundra, Heather, Selene Marquise, Takeru, Aira Aeolus, Cygnus Gwydion, and Sidney Castle. The first match between the two guilds in this tournament was Luke Cloud after Lisanna Strauss; after a hard fought battle, the winner of the match was Luke Cloud, putting White Eclipse in the lead ten to nine. Now, the tournament continues as the next match begins…

.

.

"Lisanna, you did great…" Mirajane spoke softly as she set Lisanna down on a mat to rest on.

"Tch…" Natsu growled lowly, clearly upset that Lisanna lost, but was proud because she tried her absolute best, so he couldn't complain.

"What's the matter, Salamander?" Reve said from afar, waving his hand to catch Natsu's attention. "Feeling the pressure of being number two?"

"You…!" Natsu was about to charge right at Reve, but Erza and Lucy held the hot headed Fire Dragon back. "We're just getting started!" Natsu shouted.

"I think you mean you're just getting finished," Takeru responded, smirking slightly.

"THAT WAS SO COOOOOOL!" A voice said as a male with pointy blonde hair ran into the middle of the field.

"Who's this guy…?" Zain raised an eybrow.

"I'm Jason, the reporter from Sorcerer's Weekly! I caught wind that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse were competing from number one right here so I HAD to come and see myself! This is so COOOL!" Jason looked at the board, seeing that Fairy Tail was already down by one. "Fairy Tail is losing too?"

"We're just getting STARTED!" Natsu roared.

"Starting to get bodied," Cygnus replied with a sly smirk on his face.

"Don't let them get to you, Natsu…" Lucy said quietly. "No matter how badly you wanna punch them…" Lucy quickly glanced over at Luke, who was receiving treatment from Aira.

"Lisanna preformed marvelously," Markarov nodded with his eyes closed.

"We'll be sure to kick their butts for you, Lisanna!" Levy said with a grin.

"A-Arigato…" Lisanna responded with a small smile as she laid back.

"Show them Fairy Tail's power, guys!" Cana shouted with a smile and a beer in hand.

"We intend to!" Gray said, giving a thumbs up. "Let's go! Next match!"

"Heh, that's what I like to see," A smirk formed on Markarov's lips as the roulette for the next match began. The next match was Kuro Crane vs. Levy McGarden.

"M-Me?" Levy blinked, shaking her head as she hopped into the middle of the field, stretching to prepare herself.

"Round two!? I can't wait to report this, it's gonna be so COOOL!" Jason said with the excitement he was unable to hold in.

"Oh, it's my turn!" Kuro cheerfully walked into the center of the field, grinning at Levy. "Let's have a good fight, okay!?"

Levy blinked at Kuro's cheerfulness, but she gave a nod and a smile before nodding. "Okay!"

"Ladies first!" Kuro said, putting himself in a defensive position.

Levy took out her pen, quickly writing the word "Cannon" in the air, the words morphing together, causing large cannon ready to fire to appear in front of her. "Solid Script: Cannon!" The cannon immediately fired off a large cannon ball at Kuro before vanishing into thin air.

"Whoa!" Kuro rolled hard to the right, avoiding the cannon as it exploded on the ground. "That was close…" Kuro then placed his hands together, a red magic circle appearing. "Fire Make: Tornado!" A flaming tornado shot out from the magic circle as it raced towards Levy, leaving a trail of burnt grass behind it.

"Fire Make…?" Gray blinked, never having heard of this kind of molding magic before.

"Whoa? Fire Make? COOOL!" Jason didn't hesitate to write this all down in his note pad.

"Wah!" Levy took her pen, writing out the word water, "Solid Script: Water!" The words raced towards the flaming tornado, dousing it quickly as steam appeared. Levy wasn't counting on one thing…the fact Kuro was behind his tornado, red magic circles appearing around his fist.

"Fire Make: Knuckles!" Kuro pulled his arm back as red flames surrounded his fist. When he reached Levy, he threw his fist forward, striking the script mage in the cheek, the force of the impact sending her stumbling back with a burn mark on her cheek.

"Ah…" Levy placed a hand on her cheek, wincing from the pain. "This isn't going to be easy…Solid Script: Iron!" Levy wrote the letters once again, but this time it seemed as though nothing was happening.

"Huh?" Kuro shrugged, and then put himself in a running position…when the word "Iron" fell on him in Iron characters, slamming him into the ground.

"Woo, nice one, Levy-chan!" Lucy cheered, waving an arm around. Kuro slid out from under the IRON that fell on him, shaking his head from the impact.

"C'mon, Kuro!" Jack cheered from the sidelines, holding a bottle of beer in his hands, his cheeks already tinted pink from the alcohol.

"That hurt…" Kuro mumbled under his breath as he saw Levy starting to write once again.

"Solid Script: Fire!" Levy sent the flaming words in Kuro's direction, confident the attack would do some form of damage.

Kuro placed his hands together once again, smirking this time. "Fire Make: Jar!" A flaming jar appeared in front of Kuro, the fire levy conjured flying right into the jar's opening. This wasn't all though, Kuro absorbed the fire through his body, his muscles starting to bulk up slightly as his stats were now increased from the fire.

"W-What!?" Levy gasped; surprised that Kuro practically absorbed the fire.

"My turn!" Kuro grinned as he formed another red magic circle, pulling his arm back as a javelin appeared in his hands. "Fire Make: Javelin!" Kuro threw his arm forward, sending the javelin hurtling towards Levy.

"Look out, shrimp…!" Gajeel shouted.

Levy wrote a few words in the air quickly, iron plates forming on her arms and legs, increasing her defensive as she crossed her arms, taking the full force of the speeding javelin and still flew back due to Kuro's power boost, hitting the ground on her back. "Oof!"

"Get up, Levy-san!" Wendy urged the script mage to stand up, which she did slowly, panting just a little.

"I won't lose…I have to win for Fairy Tail!" Levy shook her head, removing her faint dizziness and she began to write once again, "Solid Script: Sandstorm!" The word sandstorm appeared in sandy letter above Levy before launching at forward at Kuro at an alarming velocity.

The Fire Make mage was anything but worried; in fact he smirked as he clapped his hands together again, another red magic circle appearing. "Fire Make: Hermes!" Small wings of fire appeared on Kuro's shoes, giving the mage a drastic speed boost as he rushed out of the way of the sand storm, pulling his arms back as another red circle appeared. "Fire Make: Hammer!" A flaming hammer appeared in Kuro's hands, and he swung it at the unprepared Levy, his power boost adding more power to it as Levy's iron defenses crumbled, and the script mage fell on her back on the ground. Kuro then raised the hammer as he leapt into the air, swinging it down on Levy for the finishing blow.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy's eyes widened as the hammer made contact, a miniature smoke cloud appearing. When the dust cleared, Levy was in clear KO.

"Levy McGarden of Fairy Tail can no longer continue…" Master Calium said aloud.

"Whoa...That fight was SO COOOL!" Jason threw his arms into the air excitedly.

"Levy…" Cynthia frowned; she was unaware of how strong (excluding Reve and Sidney) the mages in White Eclipse really were. This was going to be tough, no doubt.

"Nice job, Kuro!" Waiston high fived the Fire Make wizard as he came back to the sides.

"Two down, eight to go, this'll be easy, right?" Reve said to the full team of White Eclipse.

"No doubt," Cygnus replied, smirking.

"We're just warming up," Takeru said with a smug grin.

"You did great, Levy-san…" Wendy said as she healed the script mage.

"Thanks…" Levy frowned at the fact she lost, but she felt confident the others would turn things around soon.

"These mages are powerful…" Gildarts thought to himself, keeping his eyes on Sidney. "Especially him…"

"There have been two matches, so we'll take a break for about an hour, and we'll regroup here." Markarov nodded to both teams, who then decided to go off on their own for the hour they had.

"They're so strong…" Cynthia said to Wendy.

"We can win though! Fairy Tail is number one…!" Wendy said with a reassuring grin. "I'm sure you'll win your match!"

"You too, Wendy!" Cynthia nodded with a smile plastered over her face as she and Wendy went into the nearby town to eat.

.

.

"Why did you drag me along AGAIN?" Maggie asked Aiden as they watched Cynthia and Wendy vanish into town.

"Simple…" Aiden replied. "Cynthia's fights; if my calculations are correct, then things will be ready soon…"

"And what the bloody hell does that have to do with me!?" Maggie asked once again, this time in a more annoyed tone.

"Distraction; if the Council shows up again, I doubt those White Eclipse people will help Cynthia," Aiden replied, nodding slowly. "Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do, right?"

"You…" Maggie started, and then stopped for several reasons. "Whatever…"

.

.

Sabertooth; the former strongest guild in Fiore before Fairy Tail took victory in the Grand Magic Games. Inside this guild, a slim, yet muscular toned young man of average height with blond hair which is kept in spikey strands jutting outwards in every direction, and a smaller, frontal tuft of hair barely hanging on his forehead, and a red Exceed were watching the bout between Fairy Tail and White Eclipse on a lacrima screen for the true title of the strongest guild in Fiore. "Hey, Rouge!" The male shouted, "Come see this!" A male with black hair walked inside the room, along with a green Exceed in a pink frog suit.

"What is it, Sting?" Rouge asked, wondering why he was called in. Rouge was a slim young man of average height with unkept black hair that nearly reaches down to his shoulders, along with a few strands pointing upwards on top of his head, his hair brushed over to the right side, covering his right eye.

"Look at this!" Sting pointed to the current score board between Fairy Tail and White Eclipse. Fairy Tail eight, White Eclipse ten. "Natsu-san and Fairy Tail are fighting for number one against White Eclipse…"

"Not interested…" Rouge replied as he started to turn around, not even bothering to look at the screen.

"Gajeel's in it too," Sting said.

The mention of Gajeel caused Rouge to turn around slowly. "What do you want to do then…?"

"We're gonna cheer on Fairy Tail, of course!" Sting replied with a smirk.


	48. Chapter 48: FT vs WE Round 3

Previously, on Fairy Tail; White Eclipse took another victory over Fairy Tail, now leaving the score ten to eight. Things are looking bad for Fairy Tail the moment, but they haven't given up yet! Currently, there is an hour break so the fighters can rest and prepare themselves for the next battle. Wendy and Cynthia are out around town, making their way back to the field.

"Cynthia…Can I ask you a question…?" Wendy looked up at Cynthia with a nervous expression.

"Depends…" Cynthia replied, noticing the nervousness on Wendy's face and knew the question wasn't going to be something she was going to like.

"How did your mother die…?" Wendy asked, looking away in case she upset Cynthia.

Cynthia remained silent for a few moments; she knew Wendy was going to ask this question eventually, but she felt comfortable around Wendy, so she sighed before answering. "She was murdered…my…father said it was an insane madman who killed her…though no one really knows for sure…"

"I'm so sorry…" Wendy sighed, looked down at the ground.

"Don't be…it's not your fault…" Cynthia gave a tiny smile as she and Wendy rentered the large field also known as the battle grounds…though things were different. There were more people around. "What…?" Cynthia looked around at the unfamiliar people hailing from all the different guilds. "What's going on?"

"Looks like we got an audience…" Reve said, rolling up his sleeves as he looked at the people hailing from Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Quarto Cerberus, and Sabertooth.

"Come on, Fairy Tail! You got this!" Sting shouted from the sidelines.

"Sting?" Natsu turned at the familiar voice, looking to see all the people sitting on the sidelines.

"This is so COOOOOOL!" Jason shouted. "The other guilds have shown up to watch this COOOL event!"

"You better not lose any fights, Gray!" Lyon smirked to the young pupil.

"Tch, now I HAVE to win to shut this guy up," Gray smiled just slightly, shaking his head.

"No, now WE have to win," Lucy nodded. "Everyone came here to cheer us on, so we can't let them down!"

"Oh my…" Jack looked over at the famous drunk from Quarto Cerberus. "Is that BACCHUS!?"

The Drunken Falcon turned with a gourd in his hand, grinning. "Oi! Jack!" Bacchus drunkenly waved a hand over at the other drunk, hiccupping.

"I'm gonna love disappointing these people," Cygnus said with a smirk.

"Who are those people…?" Cynthia asked Erza.

"Those are the other guild around Fiore. Quarto Cerberus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, and Sabertooth," Erza replied, smiling slightly at the fact those four guilds came to watch and cheer them on.

"Fairy Tail can do this!" The spirit of the First Fairy Tail Master, Mavis, said, literally appearing out of nowhere.

"WAAH!" Cynthia, Wendy, and everyone else jumped back from the sight of the First Master.

"F-First Master!?" Markarov's jaw dropped. "What are you doing here?!"

"I heard Fairy Tail was fighting for number one again, plus the island was so boring…so I decided to drop in!" Mavis replied with a cheeky grin.

"Who…Who is that…" Cynthia's eyes widened slightly.

"First Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion," Mirajane replied.

"Hi! You must be a new member!" Mavis looked over at Cynthia and grinned.

"I-I am!" Cynthia nodded respectfully to Mavis.

"Something wrong, Sidney?" Luke looked over at Sidney, who was staring intently at Team Fairy Tail.

"I sense a spirit…" Sidney replied. "I can't see it…but I know it's there…"

"Weird…" Luke shrugged.

"OH MY GOD I'M LATEEE!" Hanako ran over to Team White Eclipse, panting.

"Wow…Look who's here…" Michio scoffed.

"DID I MISS ANYTHING!?" Hanako asked through short breaths.

"The next match is about to start," Taya replied.

"We're beating Fairy Tail by two!" Nightwalker said with a grin, shuffling his feet across the ground excitedly.

"Hm, I wonder if I'll be next…" Heather said quietly.

"Are we all ready for the next match?" Calium asked, looking at the spectators.

"YEAH!" They all screamed.

"Very well," Calium nodded, starting the roulette once again. The roulette stopped on Cynthia and Waiston. "The next match is, Cynthia vs. Waiston Tunundra."

"M-Me!?" Cynthia felt nervous now, she was up next and she didn't want to let everyone down. She slowly made her way to the center of the field, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"Be careful, Waiston…" Reve said as Waiston sat up to leave.

"Huh? Why?" Waitson asked.

"She's different…" Reve said quietly.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Waiston said with a smirk as he stood a few paces away from Cynthia. "Heh, are you ready?"

"Yes," Cynthia nodded, allowing red fire to form around her hands. "I'm ready to beat you!"

"Heh, don't be so sure! White Eclipse or second place!" Waiston replied as he let rigid ice cover his hands.

"So…Cynthia is up next…" Aiden smirked slightly. "Let's see what she can do now…"

"RAH!" Cynthia charged forward, swinging her fist at Waiston's midsection. Waiston leaned his body back, crouching low as he stuck his leg out, preforming a sweep kick that knocked Cynthia off her feet. Cynthia recovered from the leg sweep easily, handspringing up as she aimed an axe kick down at Waiston. The ice dragon slayer moved his arms up to his head, covering them with an X as Cynthia brought her foot down. Though Waiston blocked the attack, the force of Cynthia's kick was strong enough to shatter the ground beneath Waiston.

"Whoa…" Waiston thought. "And we're just getting started..." Cynthia back flipped away, and Waiston used this opportunity to charge, striking Cynthia with an icy fist in the gut, freezing her on impact. "Heh…" A few seconds passed before Cynthia thawed herself out by using her flames, causing Waiston to step back a few feet from the heat.

"Nice try!" Cynthia smirked, snapping her fingers as several magic circles appeared around Waiston.

"Waiston get down!" Jaxon shouted, but it was too late, the circles unleashed fire that exploded on contact, causing a minor smoke cloud to appear around Waiston.

"Did I get him…?" Cynthia looked on into the thin smoke, not noticing the blue magic circle appearing under her.

"Glacier Impact!" Waiston shouted, causing a glacier-like spike to shoot up from the magic circle, launching Cynthia in the air.

"Cynthia!" Wendy shouted.

"Hey, Rouge…" Sting whispered, not taking his eyes off the fight.

"What?" Rouge replied, watching Cynthia carefully.

"Is it me or does something seems…different, about that girl?" Sting asked, referring to Cynthia. Rouge shook his head, basically saying he notices it too.

Cynthia spun around to regain herself, red fire trailing from her hands. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wingslash!" Cynthia dove forward at Waiston, her arms extended like wings as she neared him.

"Whoa!" Waiston stepped on the ground, causing a glacier to appear beneath him and shoot him into the air, causing Cynthia to slam into the glacier, breaking it from the bottom before it got to high, and caused Waiston to fall into the air. "Gah!"

"Let's try this again!" Cynthia ran forward, jumping into the air and somersaulting as her body covered in red flames once again, now taking on the shape of a wheel. "Flame Wheel!" She rammed into Waiston's midsection, the heavy blow slamming Waiston into the ground, but he recovered, panting.

"Damn…she's strong…" Waiston thought to himself; but he smirked after, puffing his cheeks out as Cynthia fell, a vortex of ice forming around his mouth. "Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston threw his head forward, unleashing a sharp, cold wind from his mouth, striking Cynthia directly as she yelped from the direct hit, skidding back across the grassy floor. "Heh."

"She's strong…" Mavis said aloud.

"Of course she is! She is a Fairy Tail mage after all," Natsu said with a smirk.

"It's not just that," Mavis replied. "There's something deep inside that girl…I don't know if she can control all that power I can sense inside her, but even if she lets out a little, it can make her into a very powerful opponent…"

Cynthia felt the cuts from Waiston's sharp cold breath, panting slightly as she stood up straight. "I'm not done yet!" Cynthia placed her hands on the ground, a red magic circle appearing. "Omega Fire Dragon's Line!" A sharp line of fire appeared, cutting through the ground as it raced towards Waiston.

"Ohp!" Waiston stomped on the ground again, creating several glaicers in front of him to protect himself from the incoming fire; but he underestimated Cynthia's power, so the line cut right through each and every glacier like butter, striking Waiston for a direct hit as he slid back across the ground, his feet leaving a trail in the ground to show that he had in fact slid back.

"I told you I'm not done yet!" Cynthia didn't let up on her assault, she jumped into the air as Waiston slid back, raising ball of crackling red fire of her head. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon!" She threw the ball of fire forward, not leaving Waiston with many options as he formed another glacier for defense that was easily shattered by the flames, causing Waiston to land on his back.

"Come on, Waiston!" Zalen shouted. "You can do this!"

"Looks like all that training is finally paying off," Laxus smirked, watching his "pupil" kick Waiston's butt.

"I'm not done either!" Waiston replied, standing up as he rushed Cynthia, aiming multiple punches at her body. Cynthia wasn't worried about close combat; close combat was her strong point. She blocked a few of Waiston's punches, the others slipping through and striking her in the chest and face area, causing her to stumble back. "Ice Dragon's Fang!" Ice with a sharp point formed on Waiston's arm, strong enough to impale through a person. Waiston raised his arm and slashed diagonally, cutting through Cynthia's shirt and left a cut, drawing a moderate amount of blood from her upper chest.

"C-Cynthia…!" Wendy gasped at the scent of Cynthia's blood.

"That could've done a lot more damage if he wanted it to…" Mavis stared at Waiston intently.

"Two Dragon Slayers…" Sting thought to himself. "Omega Fire…"

Cynthia brought a hand up to her chest, feeling the blood from the cut oozing onto her hand. "!" Cynthia shook her head slowly, blocking out the pain of the wound.

"Is that blood…?" Nami's face turned pale as her cheeks puffed out uncomfortably. Nami has a fear of blood; the very sight of it makes her sick.

"Nope," Aira replied quickly.

"Now, let's finish this!" Waiston smirked as he raised his hands high into the sky, a large blue magic circle appearing. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Hailstorm!" Large balls of ice rained down from the magic circle, all concentrated on Cynthia.

"Look out!" Cana shouted from the side lines.

"WAH!" Cynthai covered herself up as the hail rained down violently on her, letting out a yelp of pain every time she was hit.

"That's right, Waiston! Show her you mean business!" Reve shouted, smirking as he mentally tallied up the score; White Eclipse ten, Fairy Tail seven.

"Cynthia, break through!" Gajeel shouted, clenching his fist. The hail settled down, and Cynthia was covered in large bruises from the ice smacking down on her.

"Ugh…" Cynthia clenched one eye shut, falling her to knees from the powerful attack. "Strong…" She said through short breaths, panting to catch her breath.

"Finish it," Sidney said, crossing his arms.

"No need to tell me twice!" Waiston got a running start before leaping into the air, gathering what was left of his magical energy for a full powered Ice Dragon's Roar. "Roar…"

"I'm not gonna lose…" Cynthia mumbled to herself as two magic circles appeared on her hands. "I'm not gonna lose!" Cynthia picked herself up, pulling her hands back as she leaped at Waiston.

"She can still stand!?" Waiston thought as he unleashed the Ice Dragon's Roar down at Cynthia.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Omega Flame Dragon's Radiant Fang!" Cynthai threw her arms forward, a red magic circle appearing as a flame dragon shot out from the circle, easily cutting through the Ice Dragon's Roar and struck Waiston, creating an explosion as smoke filled the sky. Waiston fell from the sky and landed on his back, his eyes pure white, signifying his KO.

"W-Waiston!?" Zain gasped slightly at the powerful attack.

"Waiston…" Reve was a bit surprised that Cynthia was easily able to cut through Waiston's strongest attack.

"That girl is something else…" Taya mumbled.

"Waiston Tunundra of White Eclipse is not able to continue!" Makarov said with a grin as Waiston's picture X'ed out.

"Nice job, Cynthia!" Natsu grinned, high fiving the young girl as she limped over to Team Fairy Tail.

"Hehe…" Cynthia practically fell over, but Wendy caught Cynthia in her arms and grinned.

"You did great, Cynthia," Wendy said with a soft smile.

"That was WILD!" Bacchus grinned, his cheeks pink from all the alcohol he consumed.

"That's Fairy Tail for you," Sting shook his head slightly, smiling slightly.

Natsu looked over at Team White Eclipse, smirking widely, showing his teeth. "I told you, we're just getting started! I'm all fired up!"


	49. Chapter 49: FT vs WE Round 4

"That makes the score nine to eight now!" Lucy grinned.

"I'm sorry guys…" Waiston frowned as Aira finished healing him.

"No need to be sorry," Reve replied. "You did your best, and that girl is unnaturally strong too…she's gonna be a problem…"

"You can say that for Natsu, Gildarts, and Gray, too," Luke said, feeling at 100% now after his battle with Lisanna.

"Leave Natsu and Gray to me," Cygnus replied. "I beat them once, and I'm pretty sure I can do it again."

"Heh, that's Cyg for you," Reve smirked.

"It's kinda hot out here…" Jaxon groaned. A faint blue light surrounded Jaxon's body as the temperature in the area started to drop.

"Is it me or did it just get colder…?" Chelia Blendy asked Lyon, who seemed fine...and who was shirtless.

"I don't feel anything," Lyon replied.

"Did it just get colder…?" Erza asked, looking around the area.

"I think so…" Lucy shivered slightly, rubbing her hands against her forearms to keep herself warm.

"I don't feel anything," A shirtless Gray replied, not even acknowledging the fact he took off his shirt.

"Juvia likes what see sees…" Juvia said with a dreamy voice, along with hearts in her eyes.

"Put a shirt on!" Lucy yelled.

"PLEASE," The rest of Fairy Tail yelled.

"Now it's too cold!" Jaxon groaned once again as a red let surrounded his body, causing the temperature to skyrocket.

"Jaxon, I swear to god don't you even start this again!" Luke groaned, feeling the temperature shifted almost immediately.

"Now it's kinda hot…" Lyon said, using the back of his hand to wipe some sweat off his forehead.

"Nyah…where's this heat coming from!?" Miliana asked, fanning herself with her hands to keep herself cool.

"What the hell!?" Gajeel shook his head as the temperature increased.

"Now it's hot…" Jaxon sighed as the blue light returned, lowing the temperature down once again.

"What's with this bipolar weather!?" Lucy shouted.

"Jaxon, pick a temperature that doesn't murder us and stay with it!" Selene shouted.

"Fine, fine!" Jaxon's body gave off a red glow before the temperature rose to just slightly chilly.

"What was that all about!?" Elfman asked.

"Oi…That was weird…" Natsu sighed.

"Anyway…" Markarov shook his head, ignoring the weather fiasco. "The next match is…" The roulette began once again, stopping on Wendy and Aira. "Wendy Marvell vs. Aira Aeolus!"

"Wendy, you're up…!" Cynthia said with a grin. "Knock her down!"

"Go, Wendy!" Chelia waved her arms, cheering for her friend.

"C-Chelia?" Wendy looked over at the sound of the voice, grinning when she saw Chelia cheering her on. "I'll do my best!" The young dragon slayer said as she approached the middle of the large field.

"You're up, Aira," Takeru said. "Don't lose."

"I won't lose!" Aira said with a confident grin, fixing the black bow in her long blonde hari before walking over to the middle of the field a few paces away from Wendy.

"You can do it, Wendy!" Gray shouted from the sidelines.

"Hai." Wendy nodded slowly, looking up at her opponent. "For the sake of Fairy Tail, I won't lose...I may not like fighting...but if it's for Fairy Tail, I won't lose...I will fight with all of my might!"

"We'll see about that," Aira said, a faint smirk forming on her lips. "As a member of White Eclipse, I have to show that we are number one! I'll let you have the first attack."

Wendy nodded, and then jumped high into the air, spreading her arms out. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Sharp wind flew from Wendy's arms and down at Aira.

"Heh, those won't work," Aira grinned as she quickly ran over to the side, avoiding the slicing winds. Within an instant, a magic circle forms under Wendy, causing a powerful wind to surround Wendy as she fell to the ground, each gust delivering a slicing blow the Sky Dragon's body, causing her to yelp slightly as she fell to the ground, barely catching herself.

"She's a strong wind user," Mavis mumbled to herself. "But Wendy can win…"

Wendy realized that Aira was going to be a strong opponent, so she crossed her arms as her body gave off a faint light. "Vernir!" Wendy's body glowed faintly as she now had the ability to fly, and a massive speed boost, which she used to her advantage as she rushed towards Aira with a small cyclone of wind forming on her leg. "Sky Dragon's Claw!" She swung her leg, landing a direct hit on Aira's cheek, causing the blonde to stumble back a few steps and rub her cheek.

"You're not the only one who can do that…" Aira smirked, crossing her arms into an X as a magic circle formed under her, giving off a bright light as she increased her own stats slightly. She then closed the small gap between her and Wendy, swinging her elbow at Wendy's abdomen, pushing the bluenette back a few steps.

"Ah!" Wendy cried out as she took the blow, but she recovered quickly to block Aira's next attack, a kick to the stomach. Wendy smirked as she held onto Aira's leg, thinking; "If long range attacks won't work from long range…" Wendy then puffed her cheeks out, smirking. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy opened her mouth, unleashing a sky blue hurricane onto Aira, the force causing Wendy to release Aira's leg as Aira landed on her back from the direct hit, covered in scrapes and cuts. Aira hopped up, shaking the hit off while panting just slightly.

"Heh, she hopped up like that was nothing," Luke smirked.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" Zain replied. "Though she's playing off, that attack did do quite a lot of damage, especially for being close range…"

"She's Aira," Selene said, acknowledging the girl's strength. "She's got this…" Selene said the first statement confidently, but then she remembered the forest a few weeks back, and how Wendy used Omega Fire Sky, and how powerful it was. "As long as she doesn't use that…" Selene thought to herself.

Aira conjured up another magic circle under Wendy, this one black. Black winds release themselves from the magic circle and face towards Wendy's position at a high speed. "Burakkunhariken!" Aira shouted as Wendy found herself engulfed by the high damaging winds, crying out in pain until she hit the ground on her side, covered in cuts, bruises, and scraps.

"Ugh…I'm not giving up yet…" Wendy made her way to her feet slowly, using yet another performance enhancing spell. "Arms!" Wendy's body gave a bright glow as her offense increased. Aira mimicked Wendy's actions as a magic circle appeared under her, boosting her stats to the max with a smirk.

"Let's go then!" Aira rushed towards Wendy with blinding speed, throwing a punch to her cheek. Wendy attempted to follow Aira with her eyes, but she was unable to, and the punch landed, Aira's attack increase sending Wendy flying back until she caught herself. Aira then moved in a zig zag pattern, confusing Wendy.

"I can't rely on my eyes…" Wendy took a deep breath, calming her senses as she closed her eyes and ran towards Aira. "Sight…smell…touch…" Aira appeared on Wendy's side, her fist pulled back as she was about to aim a powerful punch to Wendy's ribcage. "Got it…!" Wendy shifted her body to the side, avoiding Aira's punch. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" A cyclone of wind surrounded Wendy's foot as she brought it up into Aira's chin, Wendy's attack boost sending Aira into the air slightly. "Not done…!" Using Vernir to its full advantage, Wendy launched herself into the air, spreading her arms once again. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy released sharp winds yet again on Aira, who had no time to react as the Wing Attack slammed into her, smacking her into the ground.

"Go Wendy!" Cynthia cheered, grinning widely.

"You can do it, Wendy!" Chelia waved her arms from side to side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Aira, you can do this!" Luke shouted. "Get up!"

"I…I am!" Aira stood up slowly, wobbling slightly.

"Armor!" Wendy spread her arms out once again as she performed the last of her enhancement spells, increasing her defense.

"She's got this now, gihehe," Gajeel smirked, leaning back.

"Heh…" Aira smirked, using her newfound speed to rush towards Wendy, pulling her arms back. When she got close to Wendy, she moved her arms to the side in a slashing motion as she seemingly disappeared and reappeared behind Wendy as if she went right through her, falling to her knees after the attack. "Finish Buster: Guretokurosurasshu…"

Wendy's eyes widened and her body froze as Aira's attack cut through her defenses, also leaving a large cut going across her chest as she fell onto her back, looking up at the sky. "!"

"WENDY!" Cynthia gasped loudly from the powerful attack. "G-Get up!"

"Get up, Wendy!" Lucy shouted.

"Wendy, get up!" Chelia yelled from the sidelines.

"Looks like game to me," Reve smirked.

"No…" Wendy clenched one eye shut, her white blouse stained red from the blood leaking from her cut. She turned over, and pushed herself up with her hands slowly. "For the sake of Fairy Tail…I won't lose…"

"W-What!?" Aira turned around, a shocked expression appearing over her face as Wendy stood up. Aira didn't even waste any time moving in, aiming a kick to Wendy's shoulder, causing Wendy's arm to go numb, just what Aira was intending for.

"AH!" Wendy yelped out, gripping her numbed, disabled arm as she stumbled back. "It's going to take more than that…to stop me!" Even though her arm was numbed, she spread her arms out, wincing from the pain of the currently disabled one. "Secret Dragon Slayer Art…"

"Crap, Aira, MOVE!" Waiston shouted, knowing a powerful attack was coming Aira's way.

"Look out!" Selene shouted.

"Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" Wendy shouted as she formed a fast wind barrier, moving it in a counter-clockwise direction, contracting inwards towards Aira. The powerful barrier consumed Aira's entire body, and when it dispersed, Aira was on the ground, passed out, breathing lightly.

"A-AIRA!" Selene gasped.

"No way…" Cygnus looked at Aira, who wasn't getting up.

"Aira of White Eclipse is no longer able to continue," Markarov nodded slowly, Aira's portrait X'ing itself out on the score board.

"I did it…" Wendy a grin, Wendy passed out, but Cynthia caught her before she hit the ground.

"You did great, Wendy!" Cynthia said with a grin.

"Uh…Our healer's down…" Gajeel coughed awkwardly. "What are we gonna do?"

"I'll heal her," Chelia replied, walking up to Cynthia and Wendy.

"Who are you?" Cynthia asked, blinking at Chelia.

"Wendy's friend! Chelia Blendy, you?" Chelia replied with a warm smile before placing her hands on Wendys' back, using her Sky God healing powers to heal Wendy.

"Cynthia!" Cynthia replied with a warm smile.

"So…what are we gonna do without a healer…?" Takeru asked as Luke pulled Aira over to rest.

"We're gonna take as little damage as possible, and come out on top," Reve replied.

"Easier said than done," Luke said. "Natsu, Gray, Gildarts, and apparently Cynthia."

"We're White Eclipse, we got this," Cygnus replied.

"White Eclipse or second place!" Waiston said with exuberance, his injuries from his battle healed.

"That was the fourth match of the day," Markarov said. "Should we continue, or start this again tomorrow, in perhaps a wider space for our spectators?"

"Perhaps we can use the Grand Magic Games Stadium…" Calium nodded. "Yes, I'm sure we can use that."

"CCOOOOOL!" Jason grinned, moving his arms up and down rapidly. "This is intense battling right here, and I get to report it all!"

"See you chumps tomorrow," Reve smirked.


	50. Chapter 50: FT vs WE Round 5

Previously on Fairy Tail, Cynthia and Wendy were the two on Team Fairy Tail to even the score with White Eclipse, making the score eight to eight. Both sides agreed to use the Grand Magic Games stadium in Crocus so they could have a larger space and make it easier for the spectators from the other guilds to watch. Remaining on Team Fairy Tail is: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Cynthia, Gildarts Clive, and Elfman Strauss. On Team White Eclipse, there is; Reve Volver, Luke Cloud, Cygnus Gwydion, Heather, Sidney Castle, Selene Marquise, Takeru, and Kuro Crane. The matches are now displayed above the large arena; the next match…

"Elfman Strauss vs. Cygnus Gwydion." Calium read from White Eclipse's side of the stands.

"Man!" Elfman nodded, a determined look appearing over his face.

"You better not lose," Evergreen scoffed from the sidelines.

"I won't lose! It wouldn't be manly!" Elfman smirked before walking into the large arena.

"Heh, this is gonna be wild," Bacchus smirked, remembering his battle with Elfman in that very stadium.

"You up for this, Gravity God?" Reve asked as he patted Cygnus's back a few times.

"Psh, if I can beat Natsu, this sissy won't be a problem," Cygnus waved a hand as he went down the stadium, smirking at Elfman. "You ready?"

"A man is always ready!" Elfman replied. "Beast Arm: Iron Bull!" Elfman's arm changed into a metallic arm composed of heavy material.

"Tch, if I can beat him, Cygnus shouldn't have any problems…" Michio mumbled under his breath.

"You can do it, Elf-niichan!" Lisanna cheered from the sidelines.

"Let's get started," Cygnus smirked, giving Elfman the signal to come at him.

"For Fairy Tail!" Elfman pulled his Iron Bull arm back.

"Heh…I hate to disappoint you…" Cygnus utilized his Gravity Magic, making his arm heavier as he pulled it back, throwing it forward to clash with Elfman's, the impact creating a shockwave that forced the two combatants back. "But I'm gonna have to body you right here, and now." Cygnus ran forward, using his gravity to make himself lighter, therefore increasing his speed, reaching Elfman within seconds; he pulled his fist back, using his gravity to enhance the power of his punch as he landed a powerful blow to Elfman's stomach, forcing the manly man to take a few steps back. Cygnus rounded off his assault with a powerful kick to Elfman's head, siding him spiraling away onto the ground.

"Oh…I heard that…" Luke said as he rubbed the side of his head.

"Cygnus has this," Zalen replied, cleaning off his glasses.

"Was it this easy, Michio?!" Cygnus jumped into the air, aiming his legs to deliver a fulminating blow to Elfman's head…but he was caught by a giant beast arm, stopping his progress. "What?!"

"Takeover: Beast Soul!" Elfman's body changed into a giant beast, his shirt ripped off from his size, and his pants shrinking also due to the size increase. Elfman smirked, standing up with Cygnus in his grasp. He then brought his arm down, slamming Cygnus into the ground, spun Cygnus around like a lasso and then threw him into the ground, creating a minor dust cloud from Cygnus's impact.

"Go Elfman!" Natsu grinned.

Cygnus recovered from the throw, shaking off the impact as he clenched one eye shut, smirking. "Oh, so we're gonna play like that, huh?" Cygnus grinned, running forward yet again. Elfman pulled his giant arm back, swinging it down at Cygnus, but Cygnus leaned his body to the left, avoiding the punch. Cygnus then hopped on Elfman's arm, using it as leverage as Cygnus delivered a gravity enhanced roundhouse to Elfman's face, casuing Elfman to stumble back. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Cygnus smirked as Elfman fell on his back from the round house kick, but he quickly got back up, shaking the impact off.

Elfman growled slightly, seeing that Cygnus was taunting him. Despite his gargantuan size, Elfman's speed was amazing; rushing up to Cygnus as he aimed a powerful punch at Cygnus's body, but Cygnus caught it, sliding back a few feet due to Elfman's weight. "When a man falls, he gets back up and keeps going! For Fairy Tail's sake, I won't stay down!"

"Stop saying man!" Cygnus manipulated the gravity around Elfman's heavy body, making his opponent much lighter. "And fly!" Cygnus was able to throw Elfman's large body into the air due to the lowered gravity; this caused Cygnus to smirk, as a golden magic circle appeared on his hands. Cygnus shot multiple golden rays of gravity at helpless Elfman, the rays weighing the large beast down as he slammed into the ground, creating a small crater from the impact.

"Elfman! Watch out, his gravity is really annoying!" Gray shouted.

"You only say that because I put that hole in your tummy," Cygnus replied to Gray.

Elfman leapt from the crater, now in his Weretiger Takeover, using his increased speed to catch Cygnus off guard; to a degree as most of Elfman's attacks landed, causing the Demi God to take a few steps back to avoid the strikes. Cygnus then smirked, ducking a high speed swipe and slammed a heavy gravity enhanced kick at Elfman's right ankle, causing the tiger to quickly fall, to a knee, giving Cygnus the time he needed to land a powerful punch to Elfman's jaw, causing Elfman to fall back. "GAH!" Elfman sprang up, wincing slightly from his injured leg, but he ran forward yet again…but there was something different about this time. Due to Cygnus's low sweep, Elfman's speed had dropped drastically, giving Cygnus time to prepare for his next strike.

"That's right…just a little closer…" Cygnus pulled his arm back, poison forming around his fist. When Elfman was close, Cygnus threw his fist forward…but Cygnus's fist hit against heavy scales, causing him to retract his fist quickly. "W-WHAT THE!?"

"Takeover: Lizardman…" Elfman was now in his Lizardman takeover, scales appearing all over his body, drastically increating his defense. "I know how you fight now," Elfman said quietly, but loud enough so Cygnus could hear. "Hand to hand is your style…you use your gravity to enhance the power of your physical attacks, but that's it. You think you can break my scales with your gravity?"

"Sounds like a challenge…" Cygnus smirked, cracking his knuckles, ignoring the pain in the fist that hit Elfman's scales.

"Cygnus, don't fall for the bait!" Reve shouted.

"He knows what he's doing," Luke replied.

Cygnus ran forward towards Elfman who just stood there, waiting for Cygnus to attack. "You don't know everything about me…" Cygnus smirked as his cheeks started to inflate, causing Elfman's eyes to widen.

"It was a trap…" Mavis said quietly.

"Elfman-san, look out!" Wendy shouted. But it was too late.

"Gravity God's Poisoned Bellow!" Cygnus was now right in front of Elfman, who was too surprised to react. Cygnus opened his mouth as a gold magic circle appeared; unleashing gravity enhanced Poison Bellow at point blank range at Elfman. Though Elfman's scales provided efficient defensive ability, the poison quickly ran through Elfman's body, rendering it numb as he returned to his normal form, KO'ed.

"T-That idiot…!" Evergreen looked away from the KO'ed Elfman, not wanting to see him in that state.

"Heh, told you he knew what he was doing," Luke grinned.

"Elfman Strauss of Fairy Tail can no longer continue," Calium said as Elfman's picture X'ed itself out.

"See?" Reve said, smirking. "We just needed a little time to get the score straight."

"Elfman…" Natsu clenched his fist, unable to say that Fairy Tail was just getting started with three members out.

"Starting to get bodied, right?" Cygnus smirked as he walked over to the White Eclipse side of the stands.

"Those mages are pretty strong…" Sting mumbled. "I'm sure Natsu-san will be able to beat them…"

"Gajeel too…" Rouge replied faintly.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch replied.

"We want Fairy Tail to win, right?" Lector asked his best friend, Sting.

Sting nodded in response. "That's right; nobody likes those White Eclipse mages, and I can tell no one would like it if they became the strongest guild in Fiore. Right now, that spot belongs to Fairy Tail, but in the end, Sabertooth will regain its glory and shine in a new light. And by then, I will have defeated Natsu-san…"

"And I will have defeated Gajeel," Rouge said, nodding to himself quietly as he leaned back in his seat.

Mirajane and Lisanna took Elfman to the infirmary, where Wendy proceeded to heal him, ridding his body of the poison. Not too surprisingly, Evergreen went to check on Elfman's condition, calling him an idiot for not seeing such a move from Cygnus coming. As this happened, Mavis eyed the White Eclipse mages. "Those mages are very strong…" Mavis said aloud, hoping to catch Team Fairy Tail's attention. "All of them are clever…"

"Don't worry," Natsu replied, grinning slightly. "We're just warming up, we're gonna defeat all of them!"

"Of course you will," Mavis gave a grin. "You are Fairy Tail wizards after all, nothing is impossible!" Mavis turned her head, meeting Sidney's gaze from across the stands. "WAH!" She fell back from surprise.

"W-What's wrong!?" Cynthia gasped at Mavis' sudden fall.

"H-He saw me!?" Mavis hopped up, pointing to Sidney, who was now looking up at the roulette.

"Are you sure…?" Markarov asked.

"I-I'm sure! I wouldn't lie!" Mavis started to tear up from the thought of being called a liar.

"N-NO! DON'T CRY!" Markarov flailed his arms around, but it was too late, Mavis turned her back and started crying. "L-LAXUS! DO SOMETHING!"

"What do you want ME to do about THIS!?" Laxus yelled.

"HOLD HER, DO SOMETHING!" Markarov responded.

"That's out of my league, old man…!" Laxus replied, his non scarred eye twitching slightly.

"Uh…are they okay…?" Selene pointed over to Fairy Tail, who were seemingly yelling and panicking for no reason.

"I think the realization of them being number two finally kicked in," Reve replied while examining one of his pistols.

"Uhm…should we get the next match or…" Calium stated, unsure of how to reaction with Fairy Tail's current situation.

"Y-Yes, get the next match started!" Markarov shouted while attempting to deal with the crying spirit.

"Right…" The roulette spun around once again, landing on Kuro Crane…and Gray Fullbuster. "Oh? This should be interesting…Kuro Crane vs. Gray Fullbuster."


	51. Chapter 51: Fire Vs Ice FT vs WE (6)

"You better not lose, Gray!" Lyon shouted from the stands. "If you do…"

"I'm not gonna lose!" Gray shouted over to Lyon. "And you can shut up!" Gray said as he walked into the center field.

"Ice Make vs. Fire Make? This'll be great!" Kuro finished slurping down the rest of his noodles and hopped down to the center of the arena, standing off against Gray. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Fire Make, huh?" Gray thought to himself as he eyed Kuro. Kuro's attitude made it somewhat hard to take him seriously, but Gray remembered how easily Kuro defeated Levy, so he wasn't going to take Kuro lightly.

"You better win this, Gray!" Natsu shouted.

"I won't lose," Gray said in a serious tone.

"Well, I'm not gonna lose either…so…sorry!" Kuro said with a cheeky grin.

"We'll see about that…" Gray placed his fist into his palm, a frozen wind slowly surrounding his legs as he closed his eyes. Gray then opened his eyes, throwing his arms forward as a blue magic circle appeared. "Ice Make: Lance!" Several ice lances flew from the magic circle, quickly making their way towards Kuro.

"This'll be fun…!" Kuro grinned as he clapped his hands together, a red magic circle forming. "Fire Make: Tornado!" A flaming tornado shot out from the magic circle, consuming the lances as they flew into the tornado, melting them as the tornado now flew towards Gray.

"Gray, look out!" Levy shouted at the ice make mage.

"Tch…!" Gray rolled hard to the left, avoiding the flaming tornado as it finally dispersed. "That's gonna be a problem…"

"Fire Make!" Kuro started, running towards Gray as another red magic circle appeared. "Lance!" Flaming lances shot out from the magic circle as Kuro mimicked Gray's first attack, an innocent grin plastered over his face.

"What!? Ice Make: Shield!" Gray threw his hands forward, creating an ice shield that blocked the incoming lances, shattering on the last one, causing Gray to skid back.

"Fire Make…?" Lyon raised an eyebrow, his shirt magically vanished between the time he started speaking and finished speaking.

"Lyon-dono…" Jura started, and then realized it was pointless to say anything else.

"You can do this, Kuro!" Nami grinned excitedly as she cheered her best friend on.

"I'm gonna win!" Kuro grinned, giving a thumbs up.

"Ice Make: Battle Axe!" Gray formed a large ice battle axe in his hands, jumping into the air as he raised it high above his head, then swung it down on Kuro.

"WHOA!" Kuro jumped back just as Gray brought his axe down, the axe leaving a large cut where it impacted. "That was close…" Kuro clapped his hands together once again, causing a red magic circle to appear in front of him. "Fire Make: Tower!" The ground started to heat up under Gray before a large tower of fire consumed the ice wizard, causing him to let out a cry of pain. When the fire subsided, Gray was covered in burn marks.

"This is getting annoying…" Gray placed his hands on the ground, causing a blue magic circle to appear under Kuro. "Ice Make: Geyser!" A powerful geyser shot up from the ground, catching Kuro off guard as he flew into the air, spiraling out of control. "Ice Make…" Gray pulled his hands apart, now seeing an opening to attack, a bow and arrow forming in his hands. "Super Freeze Arrow!" Gray pulled the arrow back, and then released it; the arrow traveled at a speed estimated to be as fast as light.

Kuro quickly caught himself in the air just in time to see Gray forming the arrow. "Uh oh!" Kuro pulled his arm back, forming a javelin in his hand. "Fire Make: Javelin!" Kuro hurled the javelin at the incoming arrow, the two clashing and exploding powerfully in the sky, creating a black smoke cloud on impact. Kuro landed on the ground, not too damage.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" A blue magic circle appeared in front of Gray as he launched a powerful ice hammer over at the off guard Kuro.

"Whoa!" Kuro crossed his arms, taking the brunt of the hammer as he skidded back across the arena ground.

"Time to get serious," Gray said, getting a firm grip on his jacket, then threw that and his shirt off to the ground, revealing his bare chest.

"There he goes with that stripping…" Luke sighed, shaking his head from side to side.

"I guess he's serious now," Reve smirked. "Kuro's just playing around right now; a serious Kuro is a dangerous Kuro."

"Why did you take your shirt off…?" Kuro asked curiously, scratching the side of his long, red hair.

"I'm serious now, Fire Make mage," Gray responded, placing his fist into his palm calmly. "You think I'm just gonna let your guild become number one without a fight? You're wrong. Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" A blue magic circle appeared once again, only this one shot out large lances, three times the size of the normal lances Gray used.

"Oh boy…Fire Make: Hermes!" Small wings of fire appeared on Kuro's feet, boosting his speed as he ran into the incoming lances, able to dodge most of them, but two struck his chest, forcing him to skid back across the ground, creating an opening for Gray.

"Ice Make: Ice Hammer!" Gray formed an ice hammer in his hands, pulling it back as he swung horizontally at Kuro, landing a direct hit as Kuro flew back a few yards before catching himself. Gray didn't stop though; he jumped in the air, raising the hammer high above his head.

"Fire Make: Dome!" A fiery dome appeared over Kuro; blocking Gray's hammer strike, and melted the hammer. "Fire Make: Hammer!" Kuro mimicked Gray once again, using the fire from the protective done and formed it into a solid, flaming hammer that he swung at Gray, landing a direct hit, causing Gray to skid back across the ground before coming to a halt.

"Come on, Gray!" Lyon shouted. "Don't let this guy win!"

"He's not going to win, Lyon!" Gray shouted in frustration, placing his fist into his palm once more. "Ice Make: …" Blades appeared on Gray's hand and his other arm's elbow. Gray then rushed towards Kuro, spinning around as he slashed sevens. "Seven Sided Dance!" Each of Gray's slashes hit Kuro, and he landed behind the Fire Make wizard, landing on his knees as the ice faded from his arms.

"Kuro…!" Jaxon shouted.

"Those were powerful hits, no doubt…" Sidney mumbled to himself, crossing his arms. "His soul right now is quite serious…" Sidney referred to Gray in that statement, watching the Fairy Tail wizard carefully.

Kuro winced, standing up slowly as his body was now covered in cuts from Gray's attack. "Heh…this is fun, but I think it's time I got serious now…" Kuro grinned, placing his hands together. "Fire Make: Snake!" A red magic circle appeared, spinning around clockwise for a few seconds before a large flaming snake head shot out from the circle with its mouth open.

"Gray-sama, look out!" Juvia shouted, flailing her arms around.

"What?" Gray turned, his eyes widening as the giant snake rammed into him at full force. "GYAAAHH!" Gray shouted as the attack pushed him back into the nearest wall, causing the wall to crack.

"Gray!" Erza shouted, feeling the intensity of Kuro's attack from here.

"Is he alright…!?" Mavis asked with a shocked expression.

"That's a new one…" Luke said, crossing his arms.

"Like Reve said," Zalen started. "A serious Kuro is a dangerous one…"

"Is that all…?" Gray pulled himself from the wall, his body covered in burn marks. "Is that all your flames can do!?" Gray smirked, running forward as ice covered his fist; he was going for a melee assault now.

"Fire Make: Knuckles," Kuro's fist surrounded themselves in fire as he and Gray entered fierce close combat. Kuro threw a punch to Gray's upper body, while Gray counted with a strike to Kuro's face. The two hit each other, avoided an attack, or clashed with their fist, the two elements and magical energy meeting causing a minor shockwave that shook the air slightly.

"Come on, Gray," Lyon thought, not wanting to cheer Gray aloud for the sake of his reputation and all.

"I like this side of Kuro," Arc replied with a sly grin.

"Kuro is certainly much more powerful then he lets on…" Taya said quietly.

"That's how he gets you," Waiston replied with a smirk.

Kuro ducked, attempting a sweep kick to knock Gray's feet out from under him, but the attempt failed as Gray jumped up, now placing his hands back. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!" Gray formed an Excalibur like ice blade in his hands, raising it high over his head.

"Fire Make: Flamberge!" Kuro formed a flaming sword in his hands, bringing it back as Gray neared. The two swung their swords at each other, surprised the blades cut through each other easily, snapping in two as the two fights, jumped back. "Fire Make: Abyss!" Kuro placed his hand on the ground, forming a large magic circle with a circumference equal to that of the circular battle field. Flames then erupted from the magic circle, leaving Gray in an abyss of fire.

"G-Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted, unable to see Gray from the towering fire.

"Gray…!" Natsu shouted, looking around for Gray, but he too was unable to spot him.

"That's game," Reve said, smirking.

"Woo, go Kuro!" Nami grinned.

"You think these flames are hot…?" Gray said through the fire, his body scorched heavily from the flames.

"What…?" Kuro looked over at Gray, who was standing tall in the harsh flames.

"I know flames hotter than these…in fact; your flames don't even close!" Gray stuck his hands out, emitting a harsh frost from his hands, freezing Kuro's fire.

"That's Gray!" Natsu smirked.

"He's freezing Kuro's flames?!" Zalen looked on in shock as the abyss cooled down.

"I wouldn't expect any less from the younger, and weaker, pupil," Lyon said to himself with a smirk.

"I'm not done yet!" Kuro smacked his hands together, creating a large magic circle in front of him. "Fire Make: Phoenix." A large, flaming Phoenix formed from the large magic circle, giving off a loud crow, shaking the arena slightly. "Finish him!" Kuro pointed at Gray, and the phoenix spread its wings out, launching itself towards Gray. Gray knew he had no options; he did the only thing he could.

"Ice Make: Shield!" He created an ice shield to soften the impact of the giant flaming phoenix ramming into him, causing him to slide across the floor. "Now…It's my turn…I'll show you the true power of Ice Make magic. Ice Make: …"

"He's gonna do it…" Lyon knew this was coming, so he couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"UNLIMITED!" A multitude of swords, axes, all kinds of weapons formed around Gray in a twister like fashion.

"W-What the…!" Kuro's eyes widened as he took a step back.

"ONE SIDED CHOATIC DANCE!" Gray connected all of these weapons into a single, large chain. He pulled the chain back and swung it forward at Kuro, who had nowhere to go. The large chain smacked into Kuro head on, sending the fire make mage into the all, leaving a large dent. Kuro's eyes were pure white as he fell from the wall and onto his stomach, in pure KO.

"GO GRAY!" Lucy cheered, grinning at the sight of the KO'ed Kuro, who's imaged X'ed out on the lacrima screen, making the score seven to seven.

"No way, he beat Kuro?!" Hanako gasped, her eyes widened.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Reve glared at Gray, who fell over onto his back from extreme magic usage.

"THAT was WILD!" Bacchus screamed out.

"FOUR!" A dark blue haired male with a shirt, tie, and pants shouted out next to Bacchus.

"You know it, Blues!" Bacchus grinned, high fiving the male.

"You better have won, Gray," Lyon scoffed slightly. "I wouldn't have taken so much damage though.

"The Ice Maker has gotten stronger…" Rufus Lohr mumbled to himself, remembering his defeat to Gray by that very same attack.

"Seven to Seven, you assholes…" Gray smirked.


	52. Chapter 52: FT vs WE Round 7

Gray was dragged into the infirmary after his fight with Kuro, leaving the score Fairy Tail, seven, and White Eclipse, seven. "Heh…you guys can handle the rest without me for a while, right?" Gray asked, leaning against Juvia for support, because she was the one who picked up as soon as she was able to.

"Of course, Gray," Natsu nodded. "We're not going to let your win go in vain.

"We're going to take them down!" Lucy and Cynthia nodded in unison.

"So, break time…?" Calium asked.

"No way!" Natsu shouted. "Let's keep going! No stops!"

"COOOL!" Jason was watching from the announcer stands, grinning. "THIS IS ALL SO COOL!"

"We'll keep going, if that's alright," Makarov nodded slowly.

Calium turned to Team White Eclipse. "Is that alright with you?"

"Fine by us," Reve replied. "Not like it's going to matter in the end, we're going to win.

"That's what you think!" Mavis shouted from across the stands…only to realize that only the Fairy Tail mages could hear her.

"They can't hear you…" Cynthia coughed awkwardly.

"I know…" Mavis lowered her head and began to tear up.

"Oh, not again…" Wendy waved her hands frantically.

"Time to start the roulette," Calium nodded, looking up at the lacrima screen as it began to shuffle the fourteen contestants around again. The roulette stopped on Gajeel and Selene. "Gajeel Redfox vs. Selene Marquise."

"Oh, you're up, Selena. Better not lose," Reve said.

"Don't worry, I won't lose. Fairy Tail is going down," Selene nodded slowly, stepping into the middle of the arena.

"Gajeel's fighting…" Sting pointed out to Rouge.

"I know…" Rogue nodded slowly.

"Gihehe, so, what can you do, girly?" Gajeel asked, rolling his shoulder to loosen up.

"Why don't you fight me, and find out, Black Steel?" Selene replied, getting herself into an offensive position.

"I like your attitude, this'll be fun," Gajeel said with a smirk.

"Go, Gajeel!" Levy shouted from the sidelines.

"You ready?" Selene asked Gajeel, cracking her knuckles.

"Been ready!" Gajeel smirked, making the gesture for Selene to charge him, and that she did. Selene ran forward, pulling a fist back as diamonds formed around her arm, enhancing her attacking.

"Diamonds?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow as he brought his arm up, forming it into an iron pole to take the brunt of Selene's fist, feeling the slight crack of his iron arm from Selene's impact. "What?" He thought to himself before bringing his knee into Selene's stomach, winding the girl as she took a few steps back, smirking slightly.

"The expression on your face says it all…" Selene replied, taking heavy breaths to catch her breath. "Diamonds are harder than steel, you know," Selene said, regaining her composure rather quickly.

"Diamonds!?" Natsu blurted out.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend…" Lucy started. "But I didn't think a girl could actually use diamonds like that!"

"Come on, Gajeel!" Patherlily shouted.

"Gihehe, we'll see about that, won't we? Let's see what breaks first, my steel, or your diamonds!" Gajeel pointed his slightly cracked iron arm forward, immediately shifting it into an iron pole that raced towards Selene's face. Selene shifted her upper body to the left, narrowly avoiding the iron pole as it flew past her. "Heh!" Gajeel smirked, his teeth showing as small, but still fairly large, iron poles extended from his arm, one of the poles striking Selene in the shoulder, causing her to stumble back. Gajeel used his opening to retract his arm and jump into the air as iron scales covered his fist. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"

"Selene, look out!" Aira shouted.

"Hm…" Selene allowed diamonds to cover both of her arms, and she morphed one arm into a diamond shield just as Gajeel swung his iron fist, clashing with the shield. Selene then used her strength to push Gajeel away before charging with her own fist pulled back.

"Tch, that's gonna be annoying," Gajeel thought to himself. Selene swung her diamond coated fist at Gajeel's face, but he ducked, sticking his leg out as it morphed into an iron pole, extending it into Selene's stomach, the momentum and constant extension caused Selene to slide across the ground on her feet unwillingly, letting out a small groan of pain from the pole. Gajeel pulled his foot back with a smirk. "Something wrong, Diamond Girl?" He asked in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Just getting warmed up, Black Steel," Selene replied with a small smirk. Selene turned her shield back into her diamond encased arm and ran towards Gajeel again, this time throwing a combo of punches at his face and midsection, trying to prevent him from getting another attack like he did last time.

"Good, because this'll be boring if that's all ya got!" Gajeel's iron scales covered his arms, and he engaged Selene in close combat. Gajeel dodged a few of Selene's punches by shifting his body over to the side, and cocked his left arm back, landing a powerful punch to Selene's chest; but the Diamond Dragon Slayer didn't give up, she moved her head to the side, avoiding Gajeel's next punch and landed her own punch to his torso, causing Gajeel to grunt slightly. Gajeel didn't admit this out loud, but he was semi impressed with Selene's abilities so far, and knew she was going to give him a good back. Gajeel cocked his right arm back this time as Selene cocked her left arm back; the two swung their fist simultaneously, clashing, creating a shock wave from the power and magical energy. Gajeel grimaced slightly as he learned that Selene's diamonds were quite hard, and he could feel it through his steel. He wasn't sure if Selene could feel his steel through her diamonds, but he wasn't about to let her have the satisfaction of knowing he knew. Gajeel jumped back just a few feet just as Selene swung another fist, putting all her weight into it this time; but she missed, and she staggered a little, attempting to regain her balance as Gajeel started puffing his cheeks out, "Iron Dragon's…"

"Selena, move!" Reve shouted.

"Too late…!" Aira looked away.

"ROAR!" Gajeel opened his mouth, sending a grey funnel of sharp metal in Selene's direction, the close range giving the girl no time to react as she was consumed by the attack, letting out a shriek of pain as a minor dust cloud covered her. "Giehehe!"

"That's how it's done, Gajeel!" Patherlily smirked. "Gajeel is without a doubt the strongest Dragon Slayer."

"Pssh, he wishes," Natsu said confidently.

Gajeel looked on into the smoke as it cleared, his eyes widening somewhat when he saw Selene's body covered in diamonds. Selene's outfit was shredded from the Iron Dragon's Roar, but other than that, she looked as though she took no damage at all. "Is that all you got…?"

"What the…!?" Lucy gasped as she looked at Selene's new appearance. "Diamonds covered her body!?"

"What the…?" Sting sat up in his sat, looking at Selene intently. "Are you seeing this, Rouge!?"

Rogue nodded slowly; taking note that Selene was going to be a tough opponent for Gajeel to face. "Diamonds…Just like Gajeel's steel…but…harder."

"I guess she's done playing around?" Cygnus asked.

"Looks like it," Arcturus said quietly. "Now, let's see what she can do…"

"My turn," Selene smirked, rushing at Gajeel with her fist pulled back.

"Gajeel, look out!" Cynthia screamed from the sidelines. "Those diamonds are dangerous!"

"I noticed," Gajeel mumbled to himself as Selene started throwing fast, diamond encased punches at Gajeel's upper body. Using his iron scales to his full defensive advantage, Gajeel brought his arms up, blocking a few of Selene's punches, feeling the steel on his arms crack slightly from the diamond's impact. "This isn't good…" Gajeel thought to himself as he strafed an incoming punch, swinging his leg forward, morphing it into an iron pole in mid swing to increase the power as it hit Selene's side, the impact causing Selene to stumble to the side a few feet, but she recovered easily thanks to her diamond defenses.

"Roar…" Selene puffed her cheeks out, much to Gajeel's surprise.

"Dragon Slayer!?" Gajeel's eyes widened as a green magic circle formed under him.

"Of the Diamond Dragon!" Selene threw her head forward, unleashing a vortex of sharp diamonds on Gajeel, engulfing him in the attack. "Heh…" When the roar subsided, Gajeel was in his own Iron Scales, panting slightly.

"Damn…that hurt…" Gajeel thought to himself as he felt the small cracks along his iron scales; they were unnoticeable for the time being, but he knew Selene's diamonds were very problematic. His shirt was nearly torn to pieces from the attack, so his chest was bare. "Giehe, is that all you got?"

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you…?" Selene glared over Gajeel.

"Bein' a part of Fairy Tail does that to a person," Gajeel smirked as he extended an arm to his side, morphing it into a sword with sharp, spiked edges.

"What the hell is that…?" Luke glanced at Gajeel's razor sharp sword, raising an eyebrow.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!" The sword started rotating like a chainsaw while Gajeel smirked. "This thing can cut through anything, Diamond Girl."

"Oh really now…?" Selene held her arm out to her side, morphing her arm into a diamond sword. "Let's test that, shall we?"

"Agreed!" Gajeel gave a slight grin as he ran forward towards Selene, immediately swinging his chainsaw-like sword down at Selene, who countered by swinging her sword at Gajeel's, the two swords clashing.

"Tch…" Selene clenched her teeth slightly, feeling the spinning sword grinding roughly against her diamond sword. She wasn't going to admit that Gajeel's steel probably had the power to at least cut her diamonds, mostly because she didn't believe it. The two then entered fierce swordplay, slashing their swords at each other, sparks flying from the collision of the two hard materials.

"Gajeel…" Rouge said quietly, watching the Iron Dragon Slayer and the Diamond Dragon Slayer's sword play.

"Come on, Gajeel! Don't let her beat you!" Natsu shouted, cupping his hands to the side of his mouth to amplify his voice, making sure it got over to Gajeel.

"That's right!" Levy shouted. "You can win this!"

"YAH!" Gajeel spotted an opening in Selene's offensive defense, and slashed his sword across the left side of her face, seemingly having no effect.

"You're open!" Selene swung her sword diagonally on Gajeel's chest, making a cut across his iron scales. Selene then jumped back, admiring her work on Gajeel's iron scales. "Your iron scales are butter to my diamonds," Selene said with a large smirk. "You haven't even made a scratch on my diamonds yet!"

"I think Selene has this match in the bag," Taya said.

"Of course she does," Luke nodded. "She is a mage of White Eclipse after all, and diamonds are pretty damn hard if I do say so myself."

"She's right…" Cynthia bit her lip nervously at Selene's words. "Iron isn't as hard as Diamond…"

"Don't give up hope on Gajeel just yet…" Mavis said in a reassuring tone.

"Gajeel's head is hard enough to break those diamonds; I bet…he does have a hard head…" Levy said while crossing her arms, looking over at Gajeel with a worried expression.

"That girl is really strong…" Sting said to Rouge, who was watching the fight intently.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch replied absentmindedly. Rogue, however, stayed silent.

"Gieheh…" Gajeel's only response was his signature laugh. "GIHEHEHE!" Gajeel's laugh only caused Selene to raise an eyebrow.

"Do you find something funny about all of this?" Selene asked, crossing her arms.

"I do! I think it's time you woke up and smelt the daisies, Diamond Girl. Not even a scratch, huh?" Gajeel smirked, and right after he did, a large cut appeared on the diamonds on the side of Selene's face, causing her eyes to widen.

"W-What!?" Selene placed her hand on the large crack, her pupils growing smaller as her eyes widened even more. "B-But how…!?"

"I told you, Iron Dragon's Sword can cut through anything!" Gajeel raised his sword high, and then slammed it into the ground, sending a ground rippling shockwave towards Selene.

"Gah!" Selene was too worried about the crack in her diamond shield to focus on anything else, and the shockwave knocked her off her feet, also blowing her back a few yards.

"Selena, focus!" Reve shouted.

"I told you not to worry about him," Mavis grinned.

"That's the Gajeel I know!" Natsu smirked. "Now take her down!"

Gajeel turned his arm back to normal, pointing his fingers out as a green magic circle appeared in front of him, "Iron Dragon's Lance; Demon Logs!" Multiple iron spears shot out from the magic circle, making direction contact with Selene's diamond coated body. Though Gajeel wasn't just aiming them all at her body, he was aiming for the weakest point; the crack he made earlier. The spears that connected with the crack succeeded in making it larger, now spreading across her face and her body slowly.

"Selene, what are you doing, get up!" Luke shouted.

"GAH…" Selene stood up just as Gajeel's assault finished, only to see Gajeel coming down with the Iron Dragon's Sword once again. Selene morphed her arm into a diamond shield just as Gajeel brought his sword down against the shield. The ensuing struggle lasted for a few seconds before Selene's diamond shield started to crack, forcing Selene to jump back as Gajeel's sword impacted the ground, splitting it apart.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Gajeel pointed his sword arm out, extending it as he swung it to the right, catching Selene's side and slammed her into the wall, creating dust from the impact.

"Go, Gajeel!" Levy shouted, waving her arms around happily.

"Come on, Selena, stop messing around!" Reve shouted once again.

"That's the Gajeel I know…" Rouge said quietly.

"Fro think so too!" Frosch said happily.

Selene stood up slowly, panting. "I'm not going to lose…"

"Yes you are!" Gajeel puffed his cheeks out as he neared Selene. "Roar…" Selene had no time to react as Gajeel was right in front of her face. "Of the Iron Dragon!" Gajeel released the roar at point blank range, slamming into Selene, her diamond shield cracking immensely as she skidded across the ground on her side, not moving.

"Gihehe…" Gajeel smirked, panting from the amount of magic he used.

"Selene…" Aira's eyes widened.

"YEAH!" Natsu threw a fist into the air. "Nice job, Gajeel!"

"Diamonds…don't break so easily…Black Steel…" Selene said quietly, placing her hands on the ground as she stood up slowly.

"N-Nani…?" Gajeel looked over at Selene, who was now standing on both her feet, hunching over.

"Diamonds are stronger than steel…" Selene's diamond shield shattered, revealing her new appearance. Diamonds scales were now covering the sides of her face, her arms, and legs.

"W-What is…?!" Lucy started.

"Dragon Force…!" Sting gasped.

"Third Generation…" Rogue said, the surprise in his voice taking away from his usual monotonous voice

"Now she's serious…" Takeru said.

"You just don't know when to quit, huh?" Gajeel took a step forward, but Selene's increased speed took him off guard as she threw a punch to his stomach, cracking his iron scales. "!"

"Diamonds easily break Steel…" Selene said in a serious tone, throwing a heavy roundhouse kick at Gajeel's sternum, shattering his iron scales, revealing the many purple bruises all over his body.

"She broke his Iron Scales with just a punch and a kick!?" Lucy gasped.

"Gajeel, do something!" Patherlily shouted.

Gajeel was helpless in this current situation, unfortunately. Selene's power was too much from him as he took a multitude of punches and kicks, unable to defend from them. Eventually, he was blown away by a diamond encased forehead, causing him to stumble back. "Ugh…" Gajeel placed his hands on the ground, pushing himself up slowly. "I ain't givin' up yet…"

"Diamond Dragon's…" Selene puffed her cheeks out.

"Gajeel, move!" Levy screamed.

"ROAR!" Selene unleashed another Diamond Dragon's Roar. Gajeel's prior damage kept him from dodging the attack as he fell to the ground, the multiple cuts on his body leaking out blood.

"G-GAJEEL!" Pantherlily's eyes widened.

"N-No way…" Happy covered his mouth. "Gajeel's been…"

"HA! I told you we were winning this thing!" Reve smirked proudly. "Nice job, Selena."

"Heh…I told you, Black Steel…" Selene smirked, panting heavily.

"Gi…heh…" Gajeel coughed slightly, slowly pushing himself up with his hands.

"W-What!?" Zain's eyes widened. "There's no way he should be able to get up in that condition…!"

"He's still moving…?" Sting's eyes widened slightly.

"Of course he is…" Rouge replied.

"Diamonds are harder than steel, huh?" Gajeel pushed himself up, iron scales covering his body once again as shadows started to leak out from around him. "Well, let me tell you something girly…" Gajeel lunged forward, pulling his fist back. "I'VE GOT A SOUL MADE OF IRON, AND THAT'S SOMETHING YOUR DIAMONDS WILL NEVER BREAK!" Gajeel swung his iron and shadow fist at Selene, catching of off guard as she flew back to the arena wall.

"Iron Shadow…!" Cynthia gasped slightly, this having been the first time she's witnessed Gajeel used Iron Shadow.

Selene stood up slowly, her eyes widen. "W-What…?"

Gajeel gave the girl no time to recover as he assaulted her with brutal hand to hand combat. Selene's Dragon Force did allow for her to react to Gajeel's onslaught, blocking most of his punches while the others slipped through, usually hitting her torso or face, causing her to grit her teeth, showing her fangs. "Iron Shadow Dragon's Club!" Gajeel shifted his body to the side, avoiding a lightning fast punch from Selene and stuck his arm out, an iron pole coated in shadows slamming into Selene's stomach, pushing her back a few yards as the pole extended.

"Diamond Dragon's Spear!" Selene clapped her hands together as Gajeel retracted his arm, a grey magic circle appearing in front of Selene. Selene held her hand out, pushing into the magic circle, causing a large diamond spear to shoot violently from the magic circle.

"Tch!" Gajeel ran forward, putting his arm up for defense as the spear made contact, doing major damage, but he didn't pay it any mind; he ran up close to Selene, concentrating the rest of his magical energy as his cheeks puffed out. "Roar…"

"Roar…" Selene puffed her cheeks out as Gajeel neared; using what was left of her magic energy for one powerful attack.

"Of the Iron Shadow Dragon!" Gajeel opened his mouth, sending a grey and black funnel of magical energy at Selene.

"Of the Diamond Dragon!" Selene opened her mouth as a grey magic circle appeared, clashing with Gajeel's close range roar. The struggle remained for a few seconds until a large explosion rocked the entire stadium, blowing away both fighters. Gajeel was in his normal form as was Selene, and both of the fighters were knocked out, unable to continue.

"I-It's a tie!?" Zalen gasped.

"No way…" Reve was clearly surprised by Gajeel's fighting spirit, and how he was able to turn that into a tie.

"Both Gajeel and Selene are unable to continue…this match is a tie…" Makarov nodded slowly, proud of Gajeel for his fighting efforts.

"Nice job, tin can…" Natsu grinned, giving Gajeel a thumbs up as both Gajeel and Selene's images X'ed out on the board.

"Time for another match," Calium said as Luke brought Selene into the infirmary, and Levy and Patherlily brought Gajeel into their infirmary. The roulette started once again, and this time...it landed on Natsu and Takeru. "Natsu Dragneel vs. Takeru."

"Hmph..." Takeru smirked over at Natsu, basically saying Takeru was going to win this time.

"I get another shot at Takeru, huh?" Natsu grinned widely, flames surrounding his body. "I'm all fired up!"


	53. Chapter 53: FT vs WE Round 8

"Natsu's up!" Happy shouted with excitement.

"Natsu, you're gonna win, right?" Lucy asked.

"Of course! I have to!" Natsu nodded, grinning. "I'm gonna win too!" Natsu hopped into the center arena. "I won't let everyone's victories be all for nothing!"

"You ready, Tak?" Reve asked, patting the Shadow Dragon Slayer's back a few times.

"Of course," Takeru responded, shoving Reve's hand away. "Don't touch me either." Take then morphed into a shadow, appearing in the center of the arena, just a few feet away from Natsu.

"Natsu-san's up…" Sting said quietly.

"Knowing Natsu, this is going to be a good fight," Cynthia nodded, grinning slightly.

"Natsu-san has a strong opponent, from what I've heard…" Wendy replied. "I heard Natsu-san barely won against Takeru-san the first time they fought…"

"That was then!" Natsu shouted from over his shoulder. "He's not winning this time either!" Natsu said as he turned to face Takeru, a confident smile on his face.

"It's about time we had a rematch," Takeru said, his cold expression remaining on his face.

"Yeah!" Natsu pounded his fist into an open palm, grinning widely. "Though, the result is going to be the same. Especially since Fairy Tail's reputation is on the line!"

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Takeru replied, choosing not to waste any more time. "Shadow Drive…" Takeru's body gave off a black aura before he turned into a shadow, using the stat boost from the Shadow Drive to zig zag towards Natsu, attempting to throw him off.

"I remember this from last time…" Natsu thought to himself, remembering him and Takeru's little skirmish in the woods when they were assigned to take out the dark mages. "Smell…touch…hearing…" Natsu "followed" Takeru with his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Takeru appeared behind Natsu, and that's when he found his chance to strike. Natsu turned around with a fist engulfed in flames, and swung it at Takeru's face, landing a direct hit, causing Takeru to stumble back. "That's not going to work on me twice!"

"Tch!" Takeru shook off the impact, rushing towards Natsu once again, using his Shadow Drive to his advantage as he started to use an erratic fighting style against Natsu, moving from side to side to confuse his opponent.

"Hn…" Natsu looked around, unable to follow Takeru's movements with his hearing or smell. "Stand still!" Natsu threw a wild punch at Takeru's body, but he missed due to Takeru's erratic movement. "Damn!" By the time Natsu turned around. Takeru struck Natsu with a kick to the side, causing the Fire Dragon to jump back, holding his side slightly. "Grr…"

"Come on, Dragneel," Takeru said in a mocking tone, circling around Natsu in a clockwise direction.

"I got you now!" Natsu threw a flaming kick at Takeru, thinking he found an opening, but Takeru shifted directions, now moving in a counter clockwise direction. "Damn it! Hold still!"

"In your dreams!" Takeru appeared in front of Natsu, swinging his head for a harsh head but which caused Natsu to yelp, holding his head as he stepped back a few feet.

"Heh, Tak's pretty serious about this…" Reve smirked as Tak was dominating Natsu in the hand to hand combat.

"Well, he lost once, and I'm sure he doesn't want to lose now," Luke replied.

"Come on, Natsu-san! You can beat that Rogue faker!" Sting shouted.

"Faker…?" Rouge blinked a few times.

"This battle is just getting started…" Mavis said quietly, observing Takeru's serious attitude. She then averted her eyes to Sidney, who was again looking in her general direction, causing her to fall back. "WAHH!"

"W-What now!?" Cynthia asked the First Master.

"H-He saw me again!" Mavis flailed around.

"Oi…" Gray sighed.

Eventually, Natsu noticed that Takeru wasn't using any particular strategy in this particular phase, so Natsu did the one thing that came to mind; he swung his leg wildly, not aiming for Takeru in particular. Luckily, this wild plan worked as Natsu landed a direct hit on Takeru's stomach, causing the Shadow Dragon Slayer to stumble back a few feet, leaving an opening. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Flames engulfed Natsu's right and left hand as he swung it forward, landing two powerful punches on Takeru's body before he decided to fight back.

"Shadow Dragon's Claw!" Shadows engulfed Takeru's fist as Natsu swung a third punch. Takeru shifted his body to the left, avoiding the fist, and then swung his shadow covered fist at Natsu's face, landing a direct hit.

"Gwah!" Natsu jumped back, allowing fire to trail from his hands. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu aimed his arms at Takeru, throwing them forward as a trail of fire rushed towards Takeru.

"Shadow Dragon's Hide!" Takeru formed a weak barrier of shadows in front of him; the shadow shield wasn't enough to fully negate the Fire Dragon's Wing Slash, but it was enough so he wouldn't take serious damage from the attack as he slid back, placing his hands on the ground to halt his movement. Takeru then took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out. "Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Takeru opened his mouth as he threw his head forward, unleashing a shadow vortex towards Natsu.

"Natsu-san, look out!" Wendy shouted.

"Gah!" Natsu crossed his arms as the Shadow Dragon's Roar impacted him, causing him to slide back across the ground. "Is that all you've got!?" Natsu asked with a smirk, his own cheeks puffing out. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu unleashed a near point blank roar towards Takeru, who's only option was to cover his arms, taking the blunt of the attack as he slid back, his arms slightly charred from the attack. "Talons!" Natsu jumped up, his foot engulfed in flames as he swung it down on Takeru's head.

"Not even," Takeru replied as he crossed his arms over his head, successfully blocking Natsu's kick, causing Natsu to backflip to gain some distance, landing on the ground a few feet away from Takeru. Takeru then rushed Natsu, swinging skillful combination of punches and kicks all aimed at Natsu's midsection. Natsu was able to block a few of the punches while the others slipped past his defenses. Natsu then blocked Takeru's incoming kick with his forearm, and then swung a wild head but at Takeru, causing Takeru to stumble back a few feet. Natsu used this opportunity to jump into the air, forming a large ball of fire in his hands.

"Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw the large ball of fire towards the off guard Takeru, landing a near direct hit as the ball of fire exploded near Takeru, blowing him back.

"Gah!" Takeru landed on his back from the fiery explosion, but he hopped up quickly, throwing off his burnt jacket. "Shadow Dragon's Spike!" Takeru's shadow spread across the ground, nearly covering the entire arena within seconds as spike shot up from the ground, dealing moderate damage to Natsu, who jumped up into the air to escape. The shadow's faded, and Natsu landed back on the ground, wobbling just a little bit since his legs were hit by the attack.

"Natsu…!" Lucy noticed that Natsu's legs were struck, and begun to fear that it would hinder his fighting ability.

"This fight's already good…" Sting said quietly, admiring how Natsu didn't think twice to keep moving.

"Are we done sizing each other up?" Natsu asked with a slight smirk, using the back of his hand to rub the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, I thought you were giving it your all," Takeru smirked slightly, standing up straight, cracking his neck and knuckles.

"They're just warming up!?" Cynthia gasped, her eyes widening.

"This battle is about to get hella wild," Bacchus smirked slightly.

"Come on, Natsu!" Lisanna shouted from the stands. "You can do it!"

"Heh," Natsu smirked, red magical energy flowing from his body. "Let's do this. Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu lunged forward, his body off the ground as flames surrounded his body, ramming his head into Takeru's midsection. Takeru's eyes widened from the blow, but instead of flying back like most normally do, he dug his feet into the ground for leverage as Natsu pushed him back a fourth of the arena's total area. Right as the flames vanished from Natsu's body; Takeru raised an elbow and slammed it into Natsu's spine, forcing the Fire Dragon into the ground. "WAH!"

"Mine," Takeru grabbed Natsu by his vest, pivoting on his right foot and hurled him into the air. "Shadow Dragon's…" Takeru puffed his cheeks out, waiting for Natsu to land in the perfect position. "Roar!" Takeru unleashed the roar at a forty five degree angle, striking Natsu directly, causing a small explosion to form once the hit landed.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted.

Natsu landed on the ground on his feet, running forward while fire trailed behind his hands. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu swiped both of his arms sideways, creating a wall of fire in front of Takeru.

"What?" Takeru was unable to see beyond the minor wall of fire Natsu formed. It was a fake out. Unfortunately for Takeru, he didn't realize this until it was too late, Natsu landed a spinning flaming roundhouse to the side of Takeru's head, causing Takeru to fly to the side as the wall of flames vanished. Takeru spun around for a bit in the air before catching himself and landing on the ground, shaking his head to shake off the impact.

"Talons!" Natsu swung his leg at the disorientated Takeru, but Takeru managed to bring his forearm up in time, blocking the kick, and wincing just slightly from the burn. "Fire Dragon's…" Natsu used this close range opportunity to puff his cheeks out. "Roar!" Natsu unleashed a powerful funnel of fire at point blank range, the breath consuming Takeru as he let out a groan of pain. When Natsu stopped his attack, he jumped back, panting just slightly. Takeru lunged at Natsu immediately with a shadow katana in his hands, swinging it skillfully at Natsu. "Whoa…!" Natsu suddenly found himself on the defensive as Takeru's shadow katana cut through his long sleeve, almost cutting right through his arm as well.

"I'll make this quick, Dragneel!" Takeru shouted, letting out a "YAH!" Every time he swung his blade. Natsu was unable to fully dodge all of the swings, as a few of Takeru's swings managed to cut his vest, his right arm, and his stomach, nothing too serious as Natsu finally spotted an opening, ducking low as Takeru swung horizontally, just cutting off one of Natsu's pink hairs.

"Got'cha!" Natsu forced his fist into Takeru's stomach, winding Takeru as Natsu sprang up, delivering a harsh uppercut to Takeru's jaw, sending Takeru back, and landing on his feet slightly.

"Grr…I'm done playing around…White Shadow Mode…" Half of Takeru's body covered itself in jet black darkness, the other half of his body retaining its original look.

"Heh, just what I was waiting for…" Natsu grinned as fire and lightning started to surround his body. "Lightning Flame Mode! I'm all fired up! Let's go!"

"Lightning Flame…?" Sting's eyes widened. "Was this the power Natsu didn't use against us…"

"This looks like it's about to get messy…" Heather said calmly.

"You have nooo idea…" Luke shook his head.

"White…Shadow?" Rogue looked on curiously, remembering that Natsu told him that Future Rouge had this very same mode.

Takeru pointed his arm forward, his palm open as a white sphere began to form in his hands. "Holy Blast," Takeru said, shooting the sphere of white energy at Natsu.

Natsu crossed his arms, taking the full force of the Holy Blast as the raw power of the attack sent him skidding across the ground a few feet. "My turn!" Natsu jumped into the air, a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of electricity in the other. "Dazzling Blaze…" Natsu placed his arms together, merging the two spheres in a ball of lightning and fire. "Of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu hurled the sphere over his head and towards Takeru.

Takeru crossed his arms at the powerful sphere of lightning and fire slammed into him, causing him to fly back across the arena before catching himself, a black and white magic circle appearing in front of him. "White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk," Thin beams of shadow and light shot out from the magic circle and towards Natsu at an alarming velocity.

"WARGH!" Natsu attempted to dodge the incoming hairline thin beams as they rushed towards him. He shifted his body all around, but one beam struck his shoulder, another his leg and a third struck the left side of his chest, causing Natsu to tumbled, wincing noticeably from the pain all over his body. "D-Damn…"

Takeru then formed a ball of white energy in his left arm, and a ball of shadows in his right, merging them together in a chestnut sized ball. "White Shadow Dragon's Bomb!" Takeru hurled the sphere forward towards the downed Natsu.

"Natsu, lookout!" Lucy shouted.

"Heh…" Natsu didn't stay down; he stood up as fire and lightning trailed from his arms. "Wing Slash of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" He swung his arms sideways, unleashing fire and lightning into the White Shadow Bomb, causing a large explosion that towered from the arena. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu covered himself in fire and lightning once more, aiming head first for Takeru.

"Roar…" Takeru opened his mouth, a vortex of white and shadow energy forming as Natsu neared him. "Of the White Shadow Dragon…" Takeru through his head forward, unleashing a vortex of black and white energy that slammed into Natsu...however Natsu's attack cut right through Takeru's dual roar.

"YAAAH!" Natsu eventually reached Takeru, slamming into his stomach with intense velocity, forcing Takeru into the wall, out of his White Shadow Mode.

"T-Tak!" Aira shouted.

"Did he get him!?" Gray asked, looking over at Takeru who was stuck in the wall.

"Heh…that's two…" Natsu turned around, falling to a knee shortly after.

"Natsu…!" Happy grinned, despite Natsu's injuries, it seemed as though he came out on top.

"He took a lot of damage from that roar…" Mavis said quietly, relived with the fact that Natsu did in fact come out on top.

"That makes the score five to six now! We're winning!" Cynthia grinned.

"Hm…" Gildarts eyed Takeru carefully.

Takeru didn't say a word; instead, his body turned completely black as he stood up, the only thing visible was his purple eyes, and two jet black wings sprouted from his back. "Oh…this should be good…" Arc smirked slightly.

"Natsu-san, turn around!" Sting shouted, jumping from his seat.

"What…?" Natsu turned around, just in time to receive a powerful punch from Takeru, flying into the ground, sliding across it unwillingly on his back before hopping up, immediately going into his lightning flame mode once again. "W-What the…!?"

"Darkness Shadow Mode…" Takeru smirked. "I won't lose to you again, Natsu Dragneel!" Takeru used his wings, flying towards Natsu with great speed, stopping just in front of him and landed a fast roundhouse to Natsu's head, throwing him over to the side.

"W-What is that!?" Lucy's eyes widened as Takeru started to dominate Natsu in combat, throwing him all over the place.

"Dragon Slayers can get THAT!?" Cynthia asked with a surprised voice.

"I've never seen that before in my life…!" Wendy gasped.

"Kehehe…" Arc grinned, letting his teeth show. "He got that power from me…the Darkness Demon Slayer…Glad to see he's putting it to good use now…" Arc said.

"He's got this in the bag now," Reve said with a large grin.

"Talons!" Natsu swung a lightning and fire infused kick at Takeru, who easily blocked it with his forearm, but he winced, the damage from before catching up to him quickly. He knew Natsu was heavily damage as well, so this battle had to end quickly before one of them went down. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu swung another lightning and fire coated fist at Takeru, this time at his face, landing the direct hit as Takeru stood a step back, almost losing his balance.

"This isn't good…" Erza said. "Natsu's used up a lot of magical energy, and his damage is catching up to him…he's going to fall soon if he doesn't' wrap this up…"

"Natsu can win this!" Happy shouted. "C'mon Natsu! Do it for the fish!"

"What fish…?" Cynthia blinked. Happy's stomach rumbled a few seconds after.

"Oh…that kinda happens when I'm hungry…haha…" Happy laughed nervously before looking back at the fight, cheering Natsu on.

Natsu landed a powerful lightning and fire hammer fist with Takeru's chin, Takeru landed a powerful punch across Natsu's jaw, sending him back, Natsu landed a heavy fire and lighting axe kick to Takeru's head. By the end of the intense close combat, both combatants were panting heavily, feeling their injuries starting to take their toll. Natsu fell to both of his knees, using his hands to keep himself up as he panted heavily. "I'm not…done yet…" Natsu said through heavy breaths.

"I'm not…done either…" Takeru said through every pant, slowly standing up straight. "I won't…fall…until you've been defeated…Darkness Shadow Dragon's…" Takeru winced as he spoke, gathering nothing but pitch black darkness into a vortex in his mouth. "I will defeat him…in the name of White Eclipse!" Takeru thought this as he gathered every drop of magical energy he could muster.

Somehow, Natsu could tell what Takeru was thinking. Maybe it was the expression on his face. "You know, Takeru…" Natsu stood up straight as he saw Takeru charging his roar. "I know you wanna win for your guild, but there's one thing you should've thought about when taking us one…Fairy Tail is number one, and we always will be…" Natsu stood tall, stood proud as he covered himself in flame and lightning once again, using that energy to propel himself forward. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!"

"Roar!" Takeru released a pitch black roar towards Natsu, a repeat of what happened earlier happening now, only this time Natsu clashed with the roar head on, the two fighting for dominance.

"Levy…Lisanna…Gajeel…Elfman…" Natsu said these names out loud, making sure the ones who were no longer in the battle for number one could hear you. "As long as I can fight…your wins won't be in vain!" With a loud shout, Natsu cut through Takeru's Darkness Shadow Dragon's roar with the upmost difficulty, ramming into Takeru's stomach once again, a large explosion occurring, kicking up a large dust cloud and fierce wings.

"W-What happened…!?" Cynthia shouted.

"I don't know…!" Lucy shielded her eyes from the wind which slowly died down. When the smoke cleared, both Natsu and Takeru were on the ground in their normal states.

"T-They tied…!?" Nami gasped.

"That son of a…" Reve clenched his teeth, he gave Salamander too little credit for this battle. Takeru and Natsu's images X'ed out on the screen, making the score five to five. Heather, Luke, Reve, Cygnus, and Sidney vs. Lucy, Gray, Cynthia, Wendy, and Gildarts.

"That fight was pretty damn WILD if you ask me!" Bacchus blurted out as Natsu and Takeru were dragged to their respective side's infirmary.

"Things are getting pretty close…" Mavis said in a serious tone. "Something bothers me though…"

"And what's that?" Laxus asked.

"That Heather girl…" Mavis eyed Heather carefully, Heather unaware of this. "I have no idea what that Heather girl can do…"

"Heather…?" Lucy looked over at Heather. "Come to think of it…I've never even seen that girl before…yet I see her White Eclipse mark…"

"Do you think she was a new addition…?" Gray looked over at Lucy.

"I don't know…But there's a reason they were so excited with she was selected…" Lucy responded, placing one of her hands on her skirt.

"With only five of them left, I think we'll be finding out what she can do soon…" Mavis nodded slowly. "Good luck; Fairy Tail…this battle is only just beginning." Mavis kept her eyes on Heather, who was fixing her blonde hair without a care in the world.


	54. Chapter 54: FT vs WE Round 9

Previously, on Fairy Tail. Natsu and Takeru had another match, yet the result ended in a tie, now leaving both White Eclipse and Fairy Tail at five members each. For Fairy Tail, there was Gildarts Clive, the famous ace of Fairy Tail, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Cynthia, and Wendy Marvell. For White Eclipse, there was Reve Volver, Luke Cloud, Cygnus Gwydion, the one that everyone is slightly worried about, Heather, and the ace, Sidney Castle. With only five members left on each side, it's clear the battle for number one is just beginning! Who will come out on top? There's only one way to find out…

.

.

"THAT MATCH WAS SOOOO COOOOL!" Jason screamed, all of these battle leaking out his enthusiasm and even more.

"He's too excited for this…" Heather said while flipping her hair back behind her shoulders.

"We should be winning this…" Reve said in a bit of an agitated tone.

"Those Fairies are stronger than you're giving them credit for," Heather replied, looking over at Reve.

"Besides, it wouldn't be much fun if we just swept through them!" Luke gave a thumbs up, grinning. "We got Sidney, so we're set. Although…"

"Although what?" Reve asked, looking over at Luke as he raised an eyebrow.

"Cynthia kinda worries me…" Luke said while rubbing the back of his head.

"You're worried about that little girl? Really, Cloud?" Reve said with a disappointed tone.

"Uh…do you NOT remember the forest a while back?" Luke replied, looking up at Reve.

"Oh yeah…that MIGHT be a problem…" Reve looked over at Cynthia, rubbing his chin. "We'll be fine…"

"Is Natsu gonna be okay," Happy asked Wendy who just walked back from the infirmary.

"Mhm, Natsu-san will be fine once he wakes up," Wendy replied with a smile.

"Five left on each team…" Makarov said quietly, crossing his arms.

"You wouldn't mind me replacing someone so I could mu-I mean beat Luke, right?" Mirajane asked with an innocent smile.

"Luke brings out the old Mira alright…" Erza mumbled softly. "I think the five we have now can handle it."

"We have Gildarts!" Cynthia shouted joyfully.

"Yeah, whoever's up against him is in for some trouble," Gray replied with a smirk.

"I won't be holding back either," Gildarts replied.

"So, are we ready for the next fight?" Calium asked.

"Of course," Makarov responded. "Let's see who is next." Calium nodded in response to Makarov, and started the roulette once more. The roulette stopped on Lucy, as the White Eclipse one kept going.

Lucy's heart sudden jumped into her throat as the possibility of fighting Luke came to mind. She wanted to fight Luke, but at the same time she didn't want to because the fear of losing and letting Fairy Tail down at a time they needed her the most clouded her head. "Who…" Lucy mumbled to herself as she eyed the roulette intently.

Luke smirked, standing up already as if he knew he was going to be picked. "Sit down, Cloud," Reve said.

"What?" Luke sat down, looking at Reve.

"Don't get so cocky just yet; we don't know who it is…" Reve replied. Just as he finished speaking, the roulette landed on Heather. "Oh, would you look at that…" Reve smirked, looking over at Heather. "It's your turn."

"I can see that," Heather replied, standing up, stretching to loosen up her muscles.

"Her spirits," Luke said.

"What about them?" Heather replied, looking over her shoulder as she walked towards the arena.

"You'll see," Luke replied with a smirk. "Take her down."

"Be careful, Lu-chan," Levy said with a stern nod.

"Yes, we don't know what she can do, so be very careful…" Erza added.

"Don't worry, I will be!" Lucy nodded with a small before walking into the center of the arena, a few feet away from Heather.

"She's gonna be in for a surprise…" Nightwalker smirked.

"Are you ready?" Heather asked as she got into an offensive stance.

"Mhm," Lucy nodded slowly, pulling out two keys from her pouch.

"I'll allow you the first move," Heather replied.

"How kind of you…" Lucy held a key out, a bright light shining from the key. "Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee, Scorpio!" The light at the tip of the sky got brighter for a few seconds before Scorpio emerged from the key.

"We are!" Scorpio said with gusto. "Sand Buster!" Scorpio bent over, pointing his stinger out unleashing a high powered sand tornado towards Heather.

"Celestial Spirit Mage…" Heather mumbled this to herself before jumping to the side, evading Scorpio's Sand Buster. "Interesting…" Heather then ran forward, a thick purple substance surrounding her hands.

"That smell…" Cynthia said, sniffing the air.

"That's…" Wendy started.

"Poison…!" Cynthia blurted out.

"We! Look out!" Scorpio placed his body in front of Lucy, buying her time as Lucy took a few steps back behind Scorpio.

"Poison Dragon's…" Heather started, a purple magic circle appearing in front of her.

"Dragon Slayer!?" Cynthia leaned up in her seat.

"Lucy-san, look out!" Wendy shouted.

"Iron fist!" Heather swung her poison covered fist forward, striking Scorpio's gut.

"W-We…" Scorpio fell over from the powerful hit, turning into yellowish fuzz before fading back into the Spirit World.

"Dragon Slayer…" Lucy mentally groaned. "Just my luck…" Lucy thought to herself before pulling out another key. "Gate of the Ram!" Lucy started, the tip of the key glowing brightly.

"Not so fast!" Heather pointed her hand out, a purple magic circle appearing. "Poison Dragon's Scales!" Poisonous scales shot out from the magic circle, rushing towards Lucy at an alarming rate.

"Look out, Lucy!" Erza shouted.

"WAH!" Lucy had to cut off her summon as she rolled to the side, a poison scale scraping against her sleeve. "That…that was close…" Lucy let out a sigh of relief, but she dropped her guard for too long as Heather came flying in with a powerful poison infused kick to Lucy's sternum, causing Lucy to stumble back, groaning from the burn the poison left. "Ouch…!" Lucy shook off the pain, pointing her key out. "Gate of the Ram, I open thee; Aries!" Aries sudden appeared in the arena, looking around nervously, shifting around uncomfortably.

"U-Uhm…" Aries said quietly.

"Aries, do it!" Lucy shouted.

"H-Hai! I'm sorry!" Aries shouted to Heather as she pointed her hands out. "Wool Bomb!" Aries bent over, pointing her hands out as soft, pink fluff shout out, aiming to capture Heather in its softness.

"Heater, look out!" Luke shouted.

"Do not worry about me," Heather replied as she jumped into the air, avoiding the large cloud of wool coming her way. Heather spread her arms out as a magic circle appeared in front of her. "Cross Poison," She swung both of her arms down diagonally into an X formation, sending two thick lines of poison shaped like an X hurtling towards Lucy and Aries.

"Aries, look out!" Lucy pulled out her whip, wrapping it around Aries' waist as she jumped back, pulling Aries with her, avoiding the impact of the Cross Poison.

"That girl is very dangerous…" Mavis eyed Heather carefully. "I don't think she's trying that much…which worries me…"

"Something about her is familiar…" Erza thought to herself. She knew Heather from somewhere, but she was unable to put her finger on it.

"I'm sorry…Lucy-sama…" Aries whimpered before fading back to the Spirit World.

"I'm running low on options here…" Lucy rubbed her sternum lightly, feeling the poison from before starting to numb her upper body. "This isn't good…" Lucy thought to herself. "Gate of the cow, I open thee; Taurus!"

"MOOO!" From the ground, a large cow holding a large battle axe. "I will do my best to protect Lucy-sama's nice body!" Taurus gripped his axe, glaring at Heather.

"Oh, look, the perverted cow," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Does that cow have a crush on Lucy…?" Cynthia tilted her head at Taurus's behavior, remembering how he was acting the exact same way in the cave.

"Looks more like an unhealthy obsession to Juvia…" Juvia muttered.

Cynthia blinked at Juvia's words, the extreme irony sticking out to her. "…Did you of all people just…"

"Get her, Taurus! Quickly!" Lucy gripped her chest, breathing slightly heavier due to the poison.

"Yes, Lucy-sama!" Taurus charged forward with his axe pulled back. "This is what you get for messing with Lucy-sama's nice body!"

"Oh my…you're one of those people, aren't you?" Heather shook her head as she held her hands out. "Poison Dragon's Guard!" A think wall of poison appeared in front of Heather just as Taurus swung his axe down. The wall of poison successfully blocked Taurus' attack, leaving the spirit dumbfounded by the wall's defensive strength.

"W-What…?" Taurus's eyes widened slightly.

"Poison Dragon's…" Heather's cheeks started puffing up, and she easily dispatched of Taurus with a distracting kick to his side, forcing him to slide away, fading away to the spirit world after.

"Lu-chan, look out!" Levy cried out. But it was too late; Heather was already in front of Lucy.

"Roar," Heather opened her mouth a purple magic circle appeared, unleashing a vortex of reddish black poison at point blank range on Lucy. Though the roar did not do much damage on the outside, the poison quickly invaded Lucy's body, rendering it numb as she sat on her knees, unable to move her body.

"W-What's going on…?" Lucy tried to move her body, but all she did was fall on her back, unable to move at all. "I can't feel my body…"

"You might as well call the match now," Reve waved a hand over to Lucy. "Heather's got you, no point in continuing."

"W-What!?" Lucy's eyes widened. Did she really lose so easily!?

"L-Lucy-san!" Wendy's eyes widened at the realization of how fast the match was, and that Lucy was unable to land a single hit.

"N-No! That can't be…!" Lucy attempted to move her body, but her efforts were in vain; her body was unresponsive. "I lost…?!"

"Lucy Heartflila can't continue in this condition. Do you agree?" Master Calium looked over at Makarov. Despite having full faith in Lucy, Makarov knew it was pointless for her to continue fighting.

"I agree…" Makarov said quietly.

"M-Master! I can keep going…!" Lucy struggled to move her body, showing that she wasn't ready to lose yet.

"Lucy…" Cynthia frowned heavily at Lucy's attempts. Even she knew it was useless in Lucy's condition.

"Lucy Heartfilia can no longer continue," Calium nodded slowly as Lucy's image X'ed itself out, leaving the score White Eclipse five, Fairy Tail four.

"Two poison users…" Mavis stated. "That's not good…" Lucy was taken into the infirmary by Wendy, who healed Lucy to rid her of the poison.

"We got the lead again, perfect," Reve said with a smirk.

"Nice work, Heather," Luke grinned slightly as Heather sat back down, dusting herself off.

"You had trouble with her before?" Heather raised an eyebrow while looking at Luke.

"Ehm…long story…" Luke coughed awkwardly. "Anyway!"

"I'm sorry…Fairy Tail…" Lucy closed her eyes, feeling ashamed for giving White Eclipse such an easy win.


	55. Chapter 55: FT vs WE Rounds 10 and 11

Previously, on Fairy Tail; Lucy fought against White Eclipse's mysterious member, Heather, who turned out to be a Poison Dragon Slayer. Lucy was caught off guard by Heather's magic, which leads to an easy defeat, making the score between the two guilds four to five. White Eclipse is slowly taking the lead once again leaving Fairy Tail in the dust. Will Fairy Tail be able to recover from the one lead disadvantage, or will White Eclipse defeat Fairy Tail and take the spot as number one guild in Fiore. There's only one way to find out, so let us look and see!

.

.

Natsu woke up slowly, looking over to the infirmary bed next to him, spotting Lucy who was just staring at the ceiling. "Lucy…?"

"Natsu…?" Lucy turned her head from the sound of Natsu's voice, looking over at him with a saddened expression.

"Lucy…What happened?" Natsu sat up slowly, looking at Lucy's expression.

"I…" Lucy choked on the words she was about to say next. "I lost…" Natsu stayed silent for a few minutes, letting the weight of Lucy's voice and words linger in the air for a few minutes until the weight seemed to fade.

"Lucy…" Natsu shook his head slowly. "You did your best, right?"

"And I lost easily…" Lucy sighed heavily, turning her back to Natsu. "I made myself look like a joke…"

"Lucy…" Natsu sighed, unable to bear Lucy like this once again. "It doesn't end here…We still have Gildarts, Gray, Cynthia, and Wendy!" Natsu nodded, a smile forming on his lips. "They're going to pull through for us, just watch!"

"…Yeah…" Lucy forced a faint smile on her lips, listening outside as the next match started.

"Who's up next to get bodied!?" Cygnus shouted, smirking widely.

"Tch, that guy's attitude pisses me off…" Gray said in a low, annoyed tone.

"I hope he gets taken out soon…" Cynthia groaned.

"I think we got the rest of these matches in the bag," Luke said, leaning back in his seat.

"Natsu and Gajeel are out…" Sting mumbled. "I hate to admit it, but those White Eclipse mages are very powerful…"

"Fairy Tail's mages are stronger though, right?" Lector asked.

"Yeah, they are…they just need a little push, and you can't defeat them," Sting nodded to Lector, giving a faint smile.

"I think Fairy Tail can win this," Rouge said.

"Fro think so too," Frosch said in its simple minded, yet cute voice.

"I don't see why Er-chan isn't in this…" Miliana complained, crossing her arms. "She would destroy the competition. I bet this was rigged somehow! Totally not spiffy!"

"I heard it was randomized…" Kagura said quietly, not much for conversation.

"Gray better not lose, or I'll never let it go," Lyon smirked, knowing his watching over Gray would provoke his rival, the man he could also call his brother, to push himself even harder.

"Is that why you came here, Lyon-san?" Chelia asked, looking up at a now shirtless Lyon.

"To see how Gray does? Of course," Lyon nodded, turning his head back to the score board. "Four to five…Fairy Tail better win…"

"This isn't so good…" Mavis said, actually starting to get a little nervous from the current outlook. "Those mages are much stronger than I anticipated…and I can't help with a strategy if all the matches are random…"

"We're just gonna have to give it more than our all then," Cynthia nodded firmly.

"Are you all ready?" Calium asked.

"Of course, bring it on!" Cynthia said as red flames surrounded her body. "I'm all fired up!"

"She got excited quickly…" Lisanna gave a nervous laugh, but she admired Cynthia for her enthusiasm.

"The next match is…" The first slow stopped on Cygnus. "Cygnus vs…" The roulette continued for a few seconds before landing on Gildarts. "Gildarts."

"Nice knowing you, Cyg," Luke said immediately.

"I got this," Cygnus said without an ounce of hesitation or fear, walking into the center of the arena.

"My turn, hm?" Gildarts slowly made his way to the center of the circular arena.

"He's gonna destroy this place if this fight gets too serious…" Cana said with a nervous smile.

"He's Gildarts, he'll take him out quickly," Gray said with a smirk.

Gildarts stood a few feet away from Cygnus. "So…are you the one who defeated Natsu and Gray at the same time…?" Gildarts asked while closing his eyes.

"Heh, that's right," Cygnus nodded slowly, smirking. "Put a nice hole in Gray's tummy, and beat the crap outta Natsu."

"His big mouth is going to get him in sooo much trouble…" Zain said, sighing.

"I see…" Gildarts opened his eyes, giving Cygnus a glare.

"Don't worry; I'll finish this as quickly as possible!" Cygnus ran forward, "God Trigger, Second State!" A thick purple aura surrounded Cygnus' body as his power increased tenfold. "Let's make this short, Clive!" Cygnus pulled an arm back, his stats increased greatly by the God Trigger; Cygnus threw his fist forward at Gildarts with amazing speed…but Gildarts caught it, an unamused look on his face.

"Gildarts is pissed…" Laxus couldn't help but smirk at Cygnus' current situation.

"A pissed Gildarts is a dangerous one…" Gray chuckled slightly.

"Cyg, do something!" Reve shouted.

"Gravity God's…" Cygnus' cheeks started to inflate, but before Cygnus could do anything else, Gildarts quickly swung his metal fist at Cygnus' face, knocking Cygnus all the way into the wall, creating a large dent.

"Holy…!" Cynthia gasped.

"Gildarts-san is really angry…!" Wendy covered her mouth.

"Holy fu-…" Cygnus felt as though the entire country of Fiore fell on him, and that was WITH his defense increase. "Gravity God's Bellow!" Cygnus fired off the attack he was unable to before, using the distance to hopefully gain some leeway on Gildarts.

"I hope you enjoyed your victories against two of Fairy Tail's mages, because what goes around…" Gildarts stuck his normal hand out, his palm open as he caught the Gravity God's Bellow in his hand with no trouble. "Because what goes around comes around." Gildarts used his disassembly magic to easily destroy the Gravity God' Bellow.

"Holy shit…" Cygnus' eyes widened. "No way are you beating me!" Cygnus charged at Gildarts' once again, pulling his fist back.

"You like to control gravity, hm?" Gildarts asked as Cygnus charged towards him. Cygnus threw a variety of hand to hand punches at Gildarts, who easily blocked them all with his metal arm, causing Cygnus to just keep trying harder. "Let's see how your gravity helps against this." Gildarts planted his left foot into the ground, the ground cracking underneath as Gildarts brought his fist upward into Cygnus' chin with all the current strength he could muster. "FLY!" The uppercut sent Cygnus HURTLING into the air, all remaining silent for a few minutes as Cygnus hit the ground, in his normal state, obviously in KO.

"Holy…" Taya's eyes widened at Gildarts's strength.

"W-Was he even trying!?" Aira blurted out.

"I hope to god he was…" Luke said with widened eyes.

"He's not Fairy Tail's ace for nothing," Makarov said with a smirk as Gildarts walked back unharmed, and as Cygnus was carried off into the infirmary by Luke and Hanako.

"Now the score's even once again; four to four." Gray smirked, stretching in case he was going to be next.

"Two hits…" Waiston's eyes were wide.

"That's a problem…" Reve admitted.

"Gildarts Clive…an interesting soul indeed…" Sidney thought to himself.

"That was an incredibly short match…" Calium coughed, amazed by Gildarts's power. "Next match…" He began the roulette, this time landing on Luke and Wendy. "Luke Cloud vs. Wendy Marvell."

"I'm up again…" Wendy took a deep breath, composing herself as she went to the arena.

"Good luck, Wendy," Carla nodded slowly. "Do your best."

"This is gonna be so COOL! This entire tournament is COOOOL! I can't keep my excitement in!" Jason yelled, making sure to write down every detail every battle had so far.

"You could try…" Taya groaned from Jason's exuberance.

"It could be worse, Taya…" Jaxon replied. "I'm not sure how, but it could be…"

"Get her, Luke," Selene said with a smirk.

"She's mine," Luke grinned, heading into the center of the arena, standing a few paces from Wendy. "I remember her fight against Aira…she's certainly going to be a problem if she sets up…" Luke thought to himself. "Oi!"

"Huh?" Wendy tilted her head at Luke.

"You may have beaten Aira, but this is as far as you're going to go, Sky Dragon!" Luke shouted with confidence.

"I'm not going to lose to you!" Wendy shouted back at Luke, confident in her own abilities. Lucy and Natsu made their way back to the stands just as the two fighters started to prepare themselves.

"Wendy's going against Luke!?" Lucy asked.

"Did we miss anything?!" Natsu asked, cheering Wendy on in the process.

"Other than Gildarts destroying Cygnus…Not really," Cynthia replied, poking her fingers together.

"Destroyed…?" Natsu blinked a few times, and then looked over at Gray.

"Two hits," Gray replied.

"Amazing, Gildarts!" Natsu grinned.

"Stay on guard…" Luke thought to himself as he motioned for Wendy to make the first move.

"Vernir!" A bright slight surrounded Wendy's body as she increased her speed right off the battle, also gaining the ability to levitate off the ground.

"Crap, she's doing this already…" Luke slid into a defensive position as Wendy rushed towards him with cyclones of wind appearing on her legs. "Here comes the kick…" Luke was mentally prepared for Wendy's Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang, but he wasn't able to keep up physically as Wendy's kick struck Luke right in his jaw, Wendy's momentum adding more power to the kick and caused Luke to stumble back from his stationary position. "Tch, this is gonna be annoying…" He thought, though his thought process was cut off as Wendy was now on his left flank, puffing her cheeks out.

"Sky Dragon's…" Wendy started as a vortex of sky blue energy started to form around her mouth.

"Gah!" Luke snapped his fingers, causing a grey magic circle to appear between him and Wendy; the circle created a reflective mirror that pointed towards Wendy.

"Roar!" Wendy unleashed the roar just as the mirror came into place; Wendy's roar bounced off the mirror, striking Wendy as she flew back a few feet, catching her breath. "H-How did you!?"

"Mirror magic, amigo," Luke said with a smirk, using this time to snap his fingers once again, creating a large, yellow magic circle under Wendy's feet.

"Wendy, look out!" Lisanna shouted, remembering when Luke used that against her.

"Wah!" Wendy used Vernir's speed to her advantage, most of her body escaping the discharge the circle released; the only bad part was that her arm was caught, causing Wendy to wince as she spiraled out of her own control for a few seconds before catching herself, rubbing her arm. "Ouch…" Wendy spread her arms out after, "Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!" Wendy sent sharp winds towards Luke in his general direction.

"Oh boy…" Luke crossed his arms, not having any other option than to block Wendy's attack, skidding back across the ground slightly from the force of the attack. "She's strong then she lets on…" Luke rushed forward, coating his fist with rigid ice and electricity, swinging a fist at Wendy's stomach, temporarily knocking the wind from Wendy's diaphragm, successfully winding her as she held her stomach in attempt to catch her breath. "Time to clip this dragon's wings!" Luke swung his leg, aiming for Wendy's left shoulder in attempt to numb her arm, much like what Aira did to her in their fight.

Wendy's eyes widened as she saw Luke swing his leg, so she did the only thing she could in her current situation, make a wild jump, dodging Luke's kick as her breathing started to return to normal. "He's fast…" Wendy mumbled to herself.

"Right?" Luke grinned, forming a ball of shadows and fire over his head. "Dalizzing Blaze of the Shadow Fire Dragon!" Luke hurled the ball of shadow and fire towards Wendy.

"Arms!" Wendy increased her offensives stats, only to dodge Luke's attack as the blaze struck the ground, creating a moderately sized explosion.

"She's slowly building up her stats…" Carla thought to herself.

"Slowly gaining the advantage…" Wendy thought to herself as she rushed towards Luke was again, throwing an elbow to his sternum, causing him to stumble back a few steps; Wendy then opened her arms again, sending another Sky Dragon's Wing Slash at the off guard Luke.

"Damn!" Luke was unable to defend himself from the next Sky Dragon's Wing Slash, flying back from the attack, catching himself in midair before landing. "I felt that one…"

"Go, Wendy!" Chelia cheered from the sidelines, grinning widely.

"You got this, Wendy!" Cynthia grinned. "Show him what you can do!"

"Luke, don't let a little girl beat you!" Reve shouted.

"Where was that when I needed it!?" Waiston scoffed.

"Same here!" Aira crossed her arms, huffing as she turned her head away.

"Roar…" Luke puffed his cheeks out, a vortex of ice and electricity forming around his mouth.

"Here we go…" Wendy charged forward despite Luke's charging of a roar; planning ahead if things went as she thought they would.

"What's she doing!?" Carla's eyes widened.

"She's charging right into the attack!?" Cynthia shouted.

"Of the Electric Ice Dragon!" Luke threw his head forward, unleashing a vortex of ice and electricity at Wendy.

"Armor!" Wendy's defense increased just before Luke's powerful hit struck her, however Wendy had miscalculated just how powerful the dual roar was, so she was blown back by the attack, landing on her back. Thankfully her defense boost prevented too much damage to her person.

"Don't underestimate me!" Luke smirked as he jumped into the air, spinning around as flames surrounded his arms. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!"

"HEY THAT'S MY MOVE!" Natsu shouted.

Luke swung his arms at Wendy, however the Sky Dragon dodged his attack, and retaliated with her own Sky Dragon's Claw, landing a direct hit as Luke flipped back, pointing his hands out as he fired off a thunderbolt at Wendy. "Wah!" Wendy dove out of the way, quickly rolling on to her feet as she sucked in another deep breath. "Roar…"

"Not so fast!" Luke snapped his fingers, creating several grey magic circles around Wendy.

"Of the Sky Dragon!?" Wendy's voice changed as she spoke, clearly surprised by the magic circles. The magic circles morphed into mirrors, Wendy's own roar striking one mirror and hitting her. However, this wasn't all; since the mirrors were stationed around Wendy, the Sky Dragon's roar continued to bounce off the mirrors, hitting Wendy on every trip, causing the girl to let out a groan of pain every time her own attack hit her.

"W-Wendy!" Cynthia gasped from Luke's mirror trap.

"Luke used this very same thing on Juvia…" Juvia narrowed her eyes at Luke, who was smirking since his trap worked.

"Heh, I got'cha now," Luke smirked as the mirrors faded, and Wendy fell to her knees, panting heavily since the onslaught lasted for several minutes.

"Wendy, look out!" Lucy shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to amply her voice.

Luke placed his fist into his palm, grinning as a chilling wind surrounding his feet. "Ice Make…"

"Don't you dare!" Gray shouted in an annoyed tone.

"Heh, I think this is game," Reve smirked.

"Freeze Lancer!" Luke threw his arms forward as a blue magic circle appeared, unleashing a multitude of large lances that all made contact with the exhausted Wendy; Wendy let out a scream of pain as all the lances made contact with her body, shattering on contact. Wendy stood tall for a few seconds before falling on her knees…and then onto her stomach.

"W-WENDY!" Cynthia covered her mouth, her eyes widening as her pupils grew smaller.

"Wendy, get up…!" Chelia yelled frantically.

"W-Wendy…!" Carla's jaw dropped, the big question is if Luke was even trying or not, because White Eclispe knew he had somewhat easy opponents.

"Whew…" Luke panted heavily from the amount of magic he used, combining two elements wasn't always the most magic friendly thing for him, but it usually produced results. "That makes the score-"

"W-Wait…" Wendy coughed, wincing as the wind around her body suddenly started to pick up.

"Huh…?" Luke turned around, raising an eyebrow as Wendy started to stand up. "You've got to be kidding me…don't you know when to stay down!?" Luke's tone was different when he said that last part, his eyes widening as Wendy reminded him of something from his first fight with Lucy's. "STAY DOWN!"

"Never…!" Wendy stood up, slouching forward slightly as she panted heavily, red fire surrounding her body along with the raging wind.

"Oh crap…" Luke was afraid of this this, but he didn't let it show on his expression. "Come on then!"

"Omega Flame Sky…" Cynthia grinned slightly, glad that Wendy was using this mode against Luke, hoping that it would bring her victory.

"I was afraid she was going to do that…" Selene mumbled.

"Luke's got this…I hope…" Nami said, eying Wendy curiously.

"W-What is that…!?" Chelia's eyes widened from surprise. "When did Wendy…!?"

"I'm wondering the same thing, Chelia-dono…" Jura said with a surprised voice.

Wendy spread her arms out, a red and blue magic circle appearing in front of her. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Red fire and sharp blue wings raced out from the magic circle at a blinding speed.

"Crap…!" Luke crossed his arms, using this as a weak defense to soften the blow of the wing slash, but it was a futile effort as Luke was blown back from the attack entirely, falling on his back, heavily damaged, but he hopped up quickly. "You Dragon Slayers are REALLY stubborn!" Luke said through pants. Luke then raised his hands into the sky, causing a yellow magic circle to appear. "Heaven's Bolt!" A large thunderbolt shot down from the magic circle and raced towards Wendy.

"Look out, Wendy!" Carla cried out. But the help wasn't needed, Wendy jumped into the air, easily avoiding the thunderbolt and the aftershock of sparks dancing wildly on the ground.

Wendy landed on the ground, puffing her cheeks out as a vortex of red fire and blue wind formed around her mouth. "Roar…"

Luke's eyes widened as he saw Wendy about to use the Omega Flame Sky roar, his memory instantly jogging back to when Wendy used the roar for the first time and how it easily ripped through the mountain range near the forest. "Shit…!"

"LUKE. MOVE!" Reve shouted at the top of his lungs, the very same memory playing in Luke's head playing in Reve's.

"Of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" Wendy unleashed the giant funnel of hurricane and red fire towards Luke, who had no reaction time as the roar engulfed his body. When the roar subsided, Luke's body was covered in all kinds of marks, and he was on his knees, panting heavily from the heavy damage he took.

"D-Damn…that hurt…" Luke mumbled to himself.

"Wendy, finish him…!" Cynthia shouted.

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Raging Hurricane of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" A large blue and red magic circle appeared under Luke's feet, the circumference half of that of the arena.

"Oh no…" Luke realized he had no options, he couldn't move in time as a raging, flaming red and blue hurricane shot up from the magic circle, spinning around at a violent velocity as Luke let out an audible scream of pain. The hurricane stayed around for a few seconds before fading away; when it did, Luke was on the ground in KO.

"THAT WAS SO COOL!" Jason shouted, jumping into the air from excitement.

"SHE WON!" Lucy grinned from ear to ear, clapping her hands together loudly.

"Shit, that little girl is going to be a problem after all…" Reve scowled at Luke's KO'ed state and at Wendy, who was panting heavily with the largest grin on her face.

"I-I did it!" Wendy panted as she limped over back to the stands, and Luke was carried into the infirmary.

"Nice job, Wendy!" Natsu grinned, high fiving the exhausted Wendy.

"I feel like I should sleep for a week now…" Wendy nodded slowly, falling into Cynthia's arms lazily. "Hehe…Arigatou, Cynthia…"

"Heh, you're welcome, Wendy," Cynthia said with a large grin. "I'll always be here to catch you."

"Giehe, so how's it lookin' now, White Eclipse!?" Gajeel shouted with a confident grin. "What's that make the score now? Four to three, right!?"

"He's right…" Zalen frowned slightly.

"Tch," Was Reve's only response at first. "We still got Heather, me, and Sidney! We're not done yet!"

"Oh yeah!?" Natsu grinned, even though he wasn't in the tournament anymore, he had complete faith in Cynthia, Wendy, Gray, and Gildarts. "Because it looks like you're just starting…to get bodied!"

"You little…!" Reve bared his teeth, but he shook it off after, a smirk forming on his lips. "Don't worry, the three of us can handle the four of you."

"I'd like to see that!" Cynthia replied as semi darkened red flames formed around her body; her flames were red because she was excited. "I'm all fired up!"


	56. Chapter 56: FT vs WE Rounds 12 and 13

Previously, on Fairy Tail; the score to White Eclipse and Fairy Tail was five to four, but Gildarts was able to easily defeat the Demi God, Cygnus Gwydion with two hits, while Wendy Marvell defeated the infamous Luke Cloud thanks to her Omega Flame Sky mode. Now the score between the two teams is three to four, leaving Reve Volver, Heather, and Sidney Castle against Cynthia, Gildarts, Wendy, and Gray Fullbuster. The battle for strongest guild in Fiore may be slowly coming to an end, but that only means the battles are going to pick up from here! Who will be the strongest guild in Fiore!? Only time will tell!

.

.

"Let Sidney fight already, dammit!" Reve shouted. "Me too!"

"I'm sure you'll come up with a fight soon, Reve," Calium nodded reassuringly, mostly saying this because there were only three White Eclipse members left.

"And you'll all go down like the rest!" Gray smirked.

"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy shooting you down, Ice make boy," Reve said with a smirk, pretending to fire at Gray.

"I was unaware Wendy could do that…" Mavis whispered over to Makarov.

"Ah, well," Makarov started. "It surprised us all, but it seems as though she ate Cythia's flames a while back, and just like Natsu and Gajeel, she's able to enter a dual mode. It really saved our hides there now that we have the lead."

"Mhm," Mavis nodded slowly. "There are three mages left…so all we can do is hope we get the same victorious results we've been getting."

"Leave it to us!" Cynthia replied to Mavis with a fist held up.

"Time for the next match," Calium nodded, starting the roulette once again. The roulette stopped on Cynthia and Heather.

"Me again?" Heather blinked before stepping into the ring.

"Be careful with her…" Reve said in a serious tone. "Don't push her the wrong way; otherwise you're going to have a huge problem…go for the quick knockout…Like with Lucy."

"Alright, the Poison Dragon Slayer…" Cynthia nodded to herself as she walked into the center of the arena.

.

.

Aiden and Maggie were watching the entire tournament from atop a building near the Grand Magic Games stadium. "Cynthia's finally fighting again, finally…" Aiden let out a sigh. "I thought she'd never get the chance to fight again…"

"Gonna see if she's ready this time, you bloomin' tosser?" Maggie asked, lying on her back, looking up at Aiden.

"Just to see her progress now," Aiden replied. "It seems her bonds with Fairy Tail have increased her emotional stability, giving her access to some of that emotional power she wasn't able to control before, which is good."

"Lemme know what happens then," Maggie shrugged, taking in the sights of the capital, Crocus.

.

.

"I'll beat you for Lucy's sake!" Cynthia nodded firmly at Heather, who crossed her arms.

"Deal with her quick and easy…Why do I feel like that's not going to be easy…" Heather thought to herself before turning to Cynthia, who was battle ready. "You want the first move?"

"Gladly!" Cynthia wasted no time in puffing her cheeks out as a vortex of slightly dark red fire swirled around her mouth. "Roar…"

"She's starting off with that already…!?" Heather thought as she prepared for the first.

"Of the Omega Flame Dragon!" Cynthia threw her head forward, unleashing large funnel of dark red fire towards Heather.

"Poison Dragon's Guard!" A purple magic circle appeared in front of Heather, causing a thick wall of poison to form in front of her, softening the blow of the incoming roar. The guard wasn't strong enough to negate the attack, as the roar shattered the guard, blowing Heather back a few feet, covered in burn marks.

"What the hell…I thought her flames got darker when she was pissed…" Reve said with a slightly annoyed and shocked tone.

"She hit her!" Lucy grinned with excitement. "Kick her butt, Cynthia!"

Heather spread her arms out, a purple magic circle appearing in front of her. "Cross Poison!" Heather swung her arms down into an X, sending to slashes of poison towards Cynthia.

"I remember this!" Cynthia jumped into the air, evading the Cross Poison attack as she snapped her fingers, causing multiple red circles to appear around Heather.

"Heather, move!" Waiston shouted, remembering that particular attack all too well.

"Poison Dragon's!" Heather started, but it was too late as the circles unleashed fire that exploded on contact with Heather, causing her yelp out from pain, and a minor smoke cloud. Before the smoke had a chance to disperse, Heather rushed towards Cynthia with poison coated fist. "Iron Fist!"

"Whoa!" Cynthia started dodging Heather's poisonous assault, remembering her battle with another poison user, and quickly came up with a plan on how to avoid such poisonous tactics. Red flames covered Cynthia's hands as she barely dodged a punch, the poison scrapping against her cheek, leaving mark. "Tch…!" Cynthia aimed her flaming hand at Heather's wrist, catching Heather's wrist on fire, causing her to wave her hand around frantically.

"H-Hey! What's this!?" Heather shouted in confusion and pain.

"That's my new attack!" Cynthia said proudly. "I hit the opponent with my flaming fist, and it catches whatever part of their body I hit on fire!" Cynthia smirked, extending her arms as darkened red fire trailed from them. "This one is for Lucy!" Cynthia rammed into Heather with her arms out, causing Heather to fly back before catching herself.

"This girl is annoying…I can see why Reve said to take her out quickly…" Heather thought to herself before pointing her arms out, a purple magic circle appearing. "Poison Dragon's Scales!" A barrage of poisonous scales shot out from the magic circle and towards Cynthia at an alarming velocity.

"Eep!" Cynthia crossed her arms, seeing no other option than to take the attack, feeling the burning sensation of the poison against her bare arms, gritting her teeth to endure the pain. "Ow…Ow…" Cynthia could feel her arms starting to go numb from the scales, so she knew she had to act quickly. "Omega Fire Dragon's…Eruption!" A magic circle appeared under Heather, basically copying Luke's lightning trick, only giving it a name this time.

"What?!" Before Heather could react, the magic circle unleashed a powerful fire eruption from beneath her feet, forcing her back a few yards, her clothes and skin now burned.

"Cynthia's doing great…!" Lucy grinned. "You can do it!"

"I will!" Cynthia replied to Lucy, not taking her eyes off Heather, who was dusting herself off.

"You're strong…" Heather admitted, puffing her cheeks out as a purple magic circle appeared in front of her. "Poison Dragons'…"

"Here it comes…" Cynthia thought to herself as she brushed her black hair back, waiting for Heather to strike.

"Roar!" Heather opened her mouth, unleashing a purple vortex of poison towards Cynthia.

"Now!" Cynthia ran towards the roar, jumping once, jumping twice, gaining height on the second jump, then preformed a third jump, jumping even high as she propelled herself over the Poison Dragon's Roar, now in the air, in the perfect position. "Omega Fire Dragon's Drill!" Cynthia placed her legs together and started spinning around, a dark red flame drill appearing around Cynthia's legs.

"Heather, MOVE!" Reve shouted.

"Poison Dragon's Guard!" Heather brought up another thick wall of poison once again just as Cynthia's attack would've struck her; however, Cynthia smirked as the poisonous wall shattered, and she struck Heather directly in the chest, forcing the poison dragon slayer into the ground, in KO.

"SHE WON!" Lucy jumped for joy, clapping her hands repeatedly.

"No way, she beat Heather too!?" Kuro's jaw dropped slightly.

"That girl is becoming a real pain in the ass…" Reve groaned.

.

.

"My my…" Aiden said in a rather impressed voice.

"What, did she win?" Maggie asked, sitting up.

"Yes, she did, and faster than I expected too," Aiden grinned. "She's coming along quite nicely…now it's really only a matter of time…"

.

.

Heather was carried off into the infirmary, the now White Eclipse two, Fairy Tail four. Wendy returned from the infirmary, feeling a bit sad she missed Cynthia's fight, but she was happy that she won anyway. "Nice job, Cynthia!"

"Thank you, Wendy!" Cynthia grinned, rubbing the back of her head as Wendy took care of the burning sensation the poison left Cynthia.

"It's just you and me now, Sidney," Reve replied.

"I can see that," Sidney replied, tugging on his scarf.

"It's time for the next match!" Makarov said with a large grin. Makarov started the roulette; out of the remaining two White Eclipse Mages, Reve Volver was finally up, and his opponent was Gray Fullbuster.

"It's about damn time!" Reve shouted as he threw his hands up. "I've gone this entire thing without a fight; now it's time to show you how Reve Volver does things Fairies."

"Get him, cowboy," Taya said with a smirk.

"Hmph," Reve didn't reply, Taya still didn't apologize or say anything about the time when she left the most important fight of Reve's life, especially since he wanted her to be there.

"Be careful, Gray…" Erza said in a serious tone. "Reve is a very dangerous opponent…"

"I remember your fight," Gray replied, standing up. "I'm not going to tie with him either," Gray said in a serious tone. "We're this close to proving we're number one like always, and I'm not going to let him take that away from us."

Lyon crossed his arms, eying Gray intently as Gray stepped into the center a few yards from Reve. "This is going to be a hard battle for Gray, I can tell…" Lyon said.

"I agree, Lyon-dono," Jura said while stroking his beard. "I can tell that Reve is a powerful man, and I'm just looking at him from all the way over here."

"You ready, Ice Make mage?" Reve asked as two pistols appear in his hands.

"I'm ready to take you down," Gray replied, placing his fist into his palm as a frosted wind surrounded his legs.

"Kick his ass, Gray!" Natsu shouted.

"It's all you, Gray!" Cynthia yelled out.

"Ice Make…" Gray brought his hands up slowly, and then threw them forward as a blue magic circle appeared in front of him. "Lance!" Multiple ice lances fired off from the magic circle, racing towards Reve.

"Heh…" A smirk appeared on Reve's lips as his highly trained eyes perceived the lances coming towards him in slow motion. Reve brought his pistols up and ran forward, shooting at the lances as they came towards him. Reve managed to destroy all the lances before they could reach him, and then aimed multiple shots at Gray.

"Crap…" Gray remembered that Reve had amazing eyes, so he would have to be faster with his attacks. "Ice Make: Shield!" Gray created a large shield of ice to cover his front as the bullets slammed into the shield, cracking it slightly. Gray then jumped to the side with his fist in his palm, another blue magic circle appearing. "Ice Make: Hammer!" A large ice hammer hurled itself from the magic circle and flew towards Reve.

"Damn!" Reve rolled hard to the left, avoiding the hammer as it barely nicked him. "Heh, too slow."

"His reflexes are amazing…" Lyon scowled a bit.

"Gray…" Erza watched Gray carefully; who seemed to be annoyed at the fact Reve dodged his attack so easily.

"Let's see how you handle this!" Gray placed his hands on the floor, causing a blue magic circle to form. "Ice Make: Geyser!"

"Not so fast, kid!" Reve knew exactly what was coming, so he took a large leap back just as the ice geyser shot up where he was standing. Reve then changed his pistols out for assault rifles, and unleashed a seemingly endless stream of bullets in Gray's direction.

"Gray-sama, watch out!" Juvia shouted.

"Ice Make: Cocoon!" Gray covered his entire body in a large sheet of ice, protecting him from the infinite stream of bullets for thirty seconds before shattering, causing Gray to skid back across the ground as Reve landed the first several hits as several bullets flew into Gray's torso. "Tch!" Gray gripped his shirt, and threw it to the side, revealing his bare chest. "Time to get serious…" Gray mumbled to himself.

"I'm just getting started," Reve smirked, changing one of his assault rifles for a shot gun. "Burst Shot!" Reve fired off a highly concentrated bullet towards Gray.

"Got you…" Gray rolled to the left, and then placed his hands on the ground. "Ice Make: Floor!" Half of the arena floor turned into a slippery, icy floor.

"W-What the!?" Reve took a step back, but he lost his footing and fell onto his butt. "Damn…"

"Ice Make: …" Gray skated across the icy floor as a blade appeared on his arm, and on his other arms. "Seven Sided Dance!" Gray spun around as Reve got up, aiming his blades towards Reve's chest.

"Damn…!" Reve didn't have much maneuverability on the icy floor, so he could only shift his body to the left and to the right, though it didn't have much effect, only allowing him to escape one blade slash as the other six made contact, causing Reve to stumble back with large cuts on his shirt and on his chest. Reve turned, unleashing a close range Burst Shot at Gray's back, causing the ice make mage to tumble around on the ground for a few seconds before catching himself. "I hate having to hold back," Reve said in a somewhat mocking tone. "I don't wanna kill you now."

"You think you're so good, don't you!?" Gray slammed his fist into his palm, causing another blue magic circle to appear. "Ice Make: Battle Axe!" Gray threw his arms forward, sending a large battle axe towards Reve.

"I don't think, kid," Reve replied as he got a running start, and then jumped over the battle axe. "I know," Reve aimed his assault rifle and his shotgun at Gray, letting off a high stream of bullets from the assault rifle, and a Burst Shot from the shotgun.

"Tch…" Gray crossed his arms, not having many options left as he took all the bullets Reve fired, his body bruised badly.

"Come on, Gray," Lyon crossed his arms, staring down at Gray.

Gray smirked, a blue magic circle forming under him as an ice geyser propelled him into a decent high in the air. "Ice Make…" A bow and arrow appeared in Gray's hands as he aimed down at Reve, three arrows at the ready. "Super Freeze Arrow!" Gray unleashed three arrows, one at a time, all at the speed of light, down towards Reve.

Reve continued to shoot at Gray as Gray went up the geyser, then stopped as he noticed Gray readying his arrows. "That's…not good…" Luckily, Reve still had his eyes, and he was intent on using them. Reve aimed his assault rifles forward, the arrows coming towards him in slow motion. Reve shot the arrow head off the first arrow, then jumped on the remaining piece, running on it and shooting the head off the second, now jumping on to that one as he ran forward. Repeating the process with the third, Reve ran on the final arrow and jumped as high as he could, putting his guns together as he switched them out for his infamous six-chambered Magnum, pointing it at Gray's face. "Bang," Reve clicked the trigger, unleashing a large bullet that made contact with Gray, sending him down to the ground, heavily damaged.

"Ugh…" Gray placed his hands on the ground, pushing himself up slowly. "I'm not…finished yet…"

"Heh, that's a good one," Reve said with a smirk as he landed on the ground. "You look pretty down to me."

"Not even!" Gray slammed his fist into his palm one more time. "ICE MAKE: ULIMITED!" Just like in his fight with Kuro, a multitude of weapons surrounded Gray, this time; he sent them all in a tornado like fashion towards Reve.

"Heh, cute," Reve spread his arms out, a multitude of guns appearing in front of him. "Devil's Wheel!" Reve's guns started an assault by shooting rapidly towards the twister of weapons Gray sent forward. It wasn't long before Gray's attack was overpowered by the Devil's Wheel, and Gray took a bullet through his shoulder, the bullet tearing through a muscle in his arm, a bullet through his leg, his side, and finally, through his chest, causing Gray to fall back after letting out a scream of agony.

"GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, her pupils nearly nonexistent.

"G-Gray…!" Lyon's eyes grew larger from pure shock.

"Get him to the infirmary, quickly!" Erza shouted. Natsu and Gajeel brought Gray into the infirmary quickly, where Wendy and Chelia did their best to heal Gray. He was heavily injured, and passed out. Though, thanks to the Sky Dragon and Sky God's healing powers, it looked as though he would be alright within a matter of time.

"Geez, don't you think that was a bit too much…?" Aira asked as she started to heal Reve.

"Not my fault he didn't dodge," Reve replied; wincing as the cuts on his chest started to close from the healing. "Besides, that makes the score three to two, we're still in this."

"That Reve man is very powerful…" Mavis eyed Reve seriously. "He and this Sidney are dangerous opponents…" Mavis then turned to Cynthia and Gildarts, giving them a sweet smile. "But I have faith you two, and Wendy, will be able to handle it."

"I'll do my best!" Cynthia nodded with a grin.

"Mhm," Gildarts nodded, feeling the tension starting to rise from the remaining few battles.

"Gray lost…" Lyon scoffed disapprovingly.

"Reve-dono is quite powerful, don't you agree?" Jura asked while looking over at Lyon.

"I hate to say it, but he's stronger than Gray…but that doesn't mean he's stronger than me," Lyon said with a smirk.

"Don't get too confident now…" Jura said with a light chuckle.

"So, what are you going to do now, Fairies?" Reve asked from across the stadium.

Cynthia put her foot down, looking over at Reve and Sidney as red flames started to flare across her body. "What are we gonna do?!" Cynthia shouted so the entire stadium could here. "I'll tell you what we're going to do! We're going to win!"


	57. Chapter 57: FT vs WE Semi Finals

Previously, on Fairy Tail, the score between White Eclipse was down to two vs. three, Reve Volver and Sidney Castle vs. Cynthia, Wendy Marvell, and Gildarts Clive. Cynthia defeated Heather, the Poison Dragon Slayer of White Eclipse, while Reve defeated Gray, the famous ice make mage. The battle for number one is coming to an end, but the real battles have yet to begin. Who will be the two that fight this time? Will White Eclipse be defeated, or will they be able to pull off a comeback and defeat the remaining three Fairy Tail mages? There's only one way to find out….

.

.

"The next match is…" Calium started, looking up at the roulette as it began to shuffle. The first picture stopped on Cynthia, and the second stopped on Sidney.

"M-Me again…!?" Cynthia gasped, looking at who her opponent was.

"Oh, she got Sidney…" Waiston couldn't help but smirk.

"That guy again…" Natsu clenched his teeth, remembering the beating Sidney gave him at the White Eclipse dinner.

"Be careful, Cynthia…" Mavis said.

"I'll do my best…I have to…" Cynthia nodded, stepping into the center of the arena.

"Hm…I've been looking forward to this, actually," Sidney nodded to himself as he suddenly appeared a few yards away from Cynthia.

"The ace of White Eclipse…" Wendy thought. "You can do it, Cynthia…"

.

.

"Hm…" Aiden watched Cynthia's next match carefully. "Ace of White Eclipse, hm?"

"What now?" Maggie asked, sitting as she stood next to Aiden.

"It appears Cynthia is facing the ace of White Eclipse, this should provide just what I need…" Aiden said with a smirk.

.

.

"I won't lose," Cynthia looked over at Sidney with a determined look.

"I won't hold back, Cynthia," Sidney replied. "Do you remember what I told Natsu before we fought?" Cynthia shook her head no in response to Sidney's question. "I thought so. It's customary to allow the weaker opponent the first move."

"You're gonna regret that move!" Cynthia covered her arms in red fire as she charged forward towards Sidney. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Cynthia swiped her arms at Sidney, sending the trail of red fire towards him, but he dodged it by jumped back.

"She's fast," Sidney thought to himself. Before Sidney could decide on what to do next, Cynthia continued the offensive assault as she pulled a flaming red fist back, aiming it at Sidney's chest. "Tch," Sidney brought his forearm up diagonally, blocking Cynthia's hit. Sidney then pulled his arm back.

Cynthia knew Sidney was going to block; he played right into her hands, at least she was hoping he did. Right as Sidney blocked her attack, she puffed her cheeks out. "Omega Fire Dragon's Roar!" She opened her mouth just as Sidney set a punch to her stomach, unleashing a red funnel of fire just as Sidney's attack sent her flying back. Sidney was engulfed by the red fire, covered in minor burn marks when the attack subsided. Cynthia was holding her stomach as she stood up slowly, groaning. "Ugh…he packs a punch…"

"She's already lasting longer than Natsu…" Jaxon said.

"Not bad," Zain said with some surprise.

Cynthia snapped her fingers, causing a multitude of magic circles to appear around Sidney; however, Sidney was expecting this, so he clapped his hands together, a magic circle running through him and Cynthia, when the circle passed, the two switched places. "WAH!" Cynthia had no time to react as her own attack unleashed itself on her, exploding after, creating a minor smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Cynthia hunched over, panting. "G-Geez…I'm not gonna lose though…!" Cynthia stood up straight, her flames darkening slightly. "Omega Fire Dragon's…" Cynthia placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle to form. "Line!" A line of red fire traveled on the ground, splitting through it as it raced towards Sidney.

"Hm…" A magic circle ran through Sidney, making him into a literal ghost as the line went right through him, turning back into a physical state right after. Cynthia grit her teeth, jumping forward as flames surrounded her body in a wheel like shape, rolling forward towards Sidney.

"Flame Wheel!" Cynthia's determination increased the power of her flames and her power overall as she slammed into Sidney's stomach, forcing the ace of White Eclipse to slide back. Sidney placed his feet in the ground to prevent himself from flying back, and raised his hands, slamming them both down on Cynthia's back after her flames vanished, slamming her into the ground, creating a crater.

"C-Cynthia!" Wendy leaned over the railing, cheering her best friend on. "G-Get up!"

"I felt that one…" Zalen shifted his back around with a pained expression.

"N-Not done…" Cynthia stood up slowly, despite the pain her body was in from only a few attacks. "They're all counting on me…" Cynthia took a step back, raising her hands over her head. "Omega Fire Dragon's…Claw!" Cynthia held her arms back, as red flaming claws appeared; she then slashed at Sidney repeatedly, but he moved his body from side to side, dodging the attacks.

Sidney kept silent the entire time, shifting his weight from side to side constantly as Cynthia swiped at him furiously. But, Cynthia eventually got the better of him, slashing both her claws simultaneously, creating a cut on Sidney's shirt, and a gash on his chest. "…Strong…" Sidney thought to himself as Cynthia jumped back, smirking.

"I got you!" Cynthia grinned, panting somewhat heavily.

"She made Sidney bleed!?" Luke shouted in disbelief.

"Hm…" Sidney opened his palm, sending a multitude of tombstones at Cynthia.

"W-Wah!?" Cynthia scrambled as the tombstones came in her direction, though she didn't have many options then to cross her arms, shouting in pain as the tombstones came in contact with her arms. She could fell her arms bruised from Sidney's powers, but she held her ground until the tombstones vanished. "My turn…" Cynthia jumped into the air, creating a dark sphere of red fire in her hands. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Flame Dragon!" Cynthia hurled the sphere forward towards Sidney.

"Soul wall," Sidney held his hand out, a wall of moving figures appearing in front of him, protecting him from the Blaze, the wall dispersing after. Sidney then took a step forward, causing a magic circle to appear, spinning clockwise. "Resurrection: Frankenstein," From the ground, a fifty foot cliché looking Frankenstein style monster makes its way out of the magic circle.

"W-WHAT IS THAT!?" Lucy flailed.

"I've never seen anything like that before…!" Mavis said with obvious surprise in her voice; in fact, Mavis covered her mouth as she spoke.

"W-What…?" Cynthia's eyes widened as she took a step back from the large Frankenstein monster. Frankenstein raised a fist, and then slammed it down on Cynthia, the ground cracking and the arena shaking after impact.

"Well I think it's over…" Arc nodded slowly.

"C-Cynthia…" Wendy dropped her hands, looking down at the emotionless Sidney.

A few seconds passed before the Frankenstein's fist started to move on its own, causing Sidney to turn his head in that direction. "…?"

"GRRRR…" Cynthia pushed the Frankenstein's fist off her slowly, holding it above her head as she clenched her teeth, her red flames extremely darkened. "Did you not hear me…?" Cynthia struggled as she attempted to straighten out her legs while holding the heavy fist in both of her hands. "I said…I wasn't…going…to LOSE! AAHHH!" With that last cry, Cynthia pushed the fifty foot Frankenstein's fist off of her, causing the monster to fall on its back, disappearing after.

"WHAT THE!?" Reve's eyes widened in surprise, "Just how strong is that girl!?

Cynthia's determination fueled her flames as they rose about a mile into the sky. "I won't lose to you!" Cynthia placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle with a diameter equal to that of the arena to appear. "Omega Fire Dragon's Eruption!" The circle then unleashed a large upward explosion, engulfing the entire arena.

Sidney was prepared as the magic circle appeared, he conjured up an urn to protect himself, the urn taking the explosion, and not as well one would think. The urn cracked heavily, but when the explosion subsided, the lid popped open and Sidney jumped out…right as Cynthia slammed into his chest with an Omega Fire Dragon's Drill, forcing Sidney into the wall. "!" Cynthia jumped back, panting heavily.

"Heh…" Cynthia smirked, wiping some blood that was dripping from her mouth.

Sidney shook off the impact, but he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "!" Cynthia broke something in his chest. Sidney clearly wasn't expecting that.

"Sidney looks caught off guard…" Kuro whispered.

"Tch…this girl…" Sidney said quietly, ignoring the pain in his chest as he took a step forward. "Resurrection: Phantoms," Sidney created five phantoms that made their way towards Cynthia.

"If those hit, her magic power is gone…" Luke said quietly.

Cynthia grit her teeth at the incoming phantoms, knowing that something bad would happen to her if she was by them. "Alright…" Cynthia ran forward, taking a deep breath, though her vision was blurry from the damage she took earlier, and she felt it starting to catch up to her. By shifting her body to the right, she avoided the first phantom, then to the left, avoiding the second. By front flipping, she avoided the other two, and for the last, she hit the ground, sliding on her side as she slid over the phantom, her fist flaming as she swung a punch towards Sidney's jaw, FORCING Sidney to take a step back.

"HOLY…" Luke shouted.

Cynthia continued her aggressive assault on Sidney, who only dodged, using his arms to block every so often, but the felt the power of Cynthia's punches, every time they hit his arms. Sidney eventually gained some distance by kicking Cynthia in the side, causing her to stumble back, panting heavily. Sidney was covered in all kinds of marks, and something in his chest was broken. This wasn't a first for the cold shouldered ghost of White Eclipse, but it was certainly the first time in a long time someone got him into this particular position. Sidney they clapped his hands together, creating a purple fog. When the fog cleared, Cynthia found herself in an all too familiar location.

"W-What...?" Cynthia looked around, her eyes widening. "H-How did...?!"

"W-What's wrong with Cynthia?" Wendy asked, a concerned look appearing over her face as she yelled out to Cynthia, who didn't seem to hear her, or anything.

"This place..." Cynthia took a step back, looking down at her attire, a beat up white t-shirt and short, torn up blue jeans. "This is...!" Cynthia gasped as she turned around, spotting several guards surrounding her. "N-No...!" Cynthia dropped to her knees, gripping her head with her hands as she rocked herself back and forth, whimpering.

"W-What's he doing!?" Natsu shouted.

"S-Stop it!" Wendy shouted at Sidney, but he ignored Wendy's plea.

"N-No..." Cynthia shook her head slowly, standing up to her fear. "You're not taking me back...!" Cynthia turned around, remembering Sidney's estimated location, her dark flames rising even higher into the sky as she glared at where she thought he was. "I'm not going back!" Cynthia puffed her cheeks out, unleashing a large dark red funnel of fire towards Sidney.

"!" Sidney crossed his arms, surprised that Cynthia stood up to her fear, taking the brunt of the Omega Fire Dragon's Roar, his arms scorched as the attack subsided.

"Time to finish this," Sidney clapped his hands together, creating two black magic circles above and below Cynthia, and two white magic circles on her sides. "Eclipse Tower." This was Sidney's strongest moves, and he didn't hesitate to use it after acknowledging Cynthia's strength. The four towers closed in on Cynthia, catching her within the towers, causing the girl to let out a pained scream of agony. When the towers faded, Cynthia fell to the ground, breathing lightly, obviously in KO.

"C-Cynthia…!" Wendy gasped, wasting no time in hopping down to the arena to Cynthia.

"That was more trouble than I thought he was going to have…" Reve smirked just slightly. "Doesn't matter…that's one problem out of the way now…"

.

.

"She lost…" Maggie groaned. "Well, I guess we're gonna be lurking around for a few more bloody months now, aren't we!?"

"On the contrary…" Aiden replied. "She performed marvelously.

"Well, that's true, but how do you expect her to be the thing that practically takes down this country if she can't even beat one mage!?" Maggie replied, raising her voice to get her point across.

"That wasn't the very limit of her power," Aiden replied with a smirk. "She started to reach deep down, and she was able to injure this "Sidney Castle," quite noticeably.

"Eh?" Maggie raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see anything."

"When she struck him in the chest, I felt something in his chest break," Aiden nodded, standing up as he turned around. "Either way, we're done here now that Cynthia has lost."

.

.

Wendy carried Cynthia off into the infirmary, healing what she could before letting Cynthia rest and returning to the stands. Sidney made his way back to Team White Eclipse, ignoring the pain in his broken chest. "Are you okay, Sidney?" Aira asked, placing her hands out to heal him.

"I'm fine," Sidney swatted Aira's hand away.

"That looked like it all hurt…" Nami said.

"I'm fine," Sidney said once again.

"It's Gildarts and Wendy now…" Natsu said quietly.

"I'll do my best, everyone!" Wendy nodded.

"I will too," Gildarts replied, giving a stern nod.

"Time for the semifinal match," Calium nodded before starting up the roulette once again. The roulette stopped on Wendy and Reve.

"I-It's me again…" Wendy felt her heart pounding against her chest; she knew Reve was going to be an extremely difficult opponent beat, considering he defeated Gray and tied with Erza.

"I get the little kid? Lame…" Reve sighed, hopping up into the center of the arena.

"She's a tough one, Reve…" Luke raised his voice so Reve could hear him.

"Don't worry, Cloud, I got this," Reve smirked, standing in the center of the arena.

"Wendy, you can do it!" Chelia nodded.

Wendy ran out to the center of the arena. "I have to win!" She said to herself…before she tripped over nothing and clumsily fell flat on her face.

"Ooh…" Luke couldn't help but chuckle a little at Wendy's fall.

"…Hard to believe THIS is the one that beat Aira and Luke…" Reve sighed as two pistols appeared in his hands. "I remember how this little girl fights, so her tricks won't work on me."

Wendy stood up, her cheeks red from the embarrassing fall before she stood up to face Reve. "I'm ready…"

"We let the weaker opponent have the first move over at White Eclipse, so by all means, go first," Reve told Wendy with a smirk.

Wendy nodded, spreading her arms out. "Arms, Armor, and Vernir!" Wendy's body gave off a bright glow as she increased her speed, defense, and offense. Wendy then rushed towards Reve in a zig zag pattern, aiming to throw the guns mage off guard.

"Starting off with the stat boost already, huh?" Wendy's trick didn't throw Reve off guard at all, in fact, it made the situation worse for her as Reve's eyes pinpointed exactly where she would go next, and he fired off a few rounds at Wendy's next spot, catching the Sky Dragon off guard as she flew back a bit, catching herself. "I don't care how fast you are, my eyes are sharp," Reve smirked, pointing his guns at Wendy once again and started firing.

"Wendy, look out!" Erza shouted.

Wendy started moving around erratically, throwing Reve off her trail just for a few seconds, buying her enough time to jump into the air, spreading her arms out. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy unleashed sharp winds from her arms, sending them all towards Reve.

"Oh, this is great!" Reve grinned as his body gave off a heavenly glow. When the glow faded, Reve was in a shirt that had the words SLAYER on it, and he held out a long gun. "Just what I was waiting for," Reve then held the long gun out, clicking the trigger; what happened next was unbelievable. The gun sucked in the Sky Dragon's Wing Attack, leaving Reve unscathed.

"W-What the!?" Wendy landed on the ground, her jaw dropping from what she just witnessed.

"W-What the hell was THAT!?" Natsu shouted, unable to comprehend what saw.

"Heh, surprised, are we?" Reve strapped the gun behind his back, grinning. "That, my dear Dragon Slayer, is the Reverse Slayer."

"Reserve…" Lucy started.

"Slayer?" Mavis finished the sentence.

"You really thought I wouldn't be prepared to take on one of you four Dragon Slayers? HA!" Reve smirked, changing the pistols in his hands for assault rifles, and then unleashed a seemingly endless stream to bullets towards Wendy.

"Wendy, watch out!" Carla cried out, watching as Wendy narrowly avoided the stream of bullets flying in her direction.

"Aahh!" Wendy spun her body around, sucking in a deep breath as she avoided most of the bullets coming in her direction. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy turned, shifting her body around as she aimed a Sky Dragon's Roar down at Reve.

"Tch," Reve rolled out of the way of the incoming roar, dropping his assault rifles as he pulled out the Reverse Slayer, unleashing Wendy's earlier Sky Dragon's Wing Attack back onto her. "That's a nice attack you got there!" Wendy's eyes widened as her own attack came spiraling back into her, blowing her back a few yards before she caught herself.

"That's going to be a major problem…" Gray said with his arm in a cast from his earlier fight with Reve.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy rushed towards Reve, swinging a foot at his chest, but Reve stepped back, using his foot to step on the assault rifle he dropped earlier, unleashing a few quick rounds of bullets at Wendy, causing the Sky Dragon to hit the ground, the damage accumulated effecting her quickly, and she hadn't even laid a single hit on Reve. "I won't…stay down…" Wendy panted, standing up.

"You might as well," Reve's hands gave a glow as his six chamber magnum appeared in his hands, and he pointed it right at Wendy, firing the large bullet immediately at her. However, Reve…missed, as the bullet flew over Wendy and into the wall, creating a miniature explosion. "I-I missed!?"

"HE MISSED?!" Zalen stood up in surprise. "He rarely misses with that!"

Wendy smirked, standing up straight. "That was me…"

"What did you do…?" Reve narrowed his eyes at Wendy, curious as to how she could've made his accurate shot miss.

"I used my magic on you…" Wendy's smirked standing up straight as red fire and blue raging winds surrounded her. "I will win this battle for Fairy Tail…Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Light Shattering Flaming Sky Drill!" Wendy casted the dual mode secret art, consuming Reve in the barrier of wind, grinning as her attack landed. "Got him…" When Wendy's attack subsided, her eyes widened. Reve was in a SWAT outfit, his defense drastically increased, but he still took heavy damage, but he didn't let it show.

"My turn then," Reve spread his arms out as his SWAT uniform vanished, a multitude of guns appearing all around Wendy. "Devil's Wheel!"

"WENDY LOOK OUT!" Carla screamed. But it was way too late, the guns around Wendy started to fire, creating a smoke cloud as the bullets rained down for a few minutes. When the smoke cleared, Wendy was lying on her stomach, panting heavily. She placed her hands on the ground, pushing herself up slowly.

"You're kidding me…" Reve glared at Wendy as she stood up, hunching over.

"Wendy…" Chelia looked on nervously, noticing how badly Wendy was injured.

"Roar…" Wendy took a deep breath, a vortex of red fire and blue wind forming around her mouth.

"Here it comes…" Reve pulled out the Reverse Slayer, honestly not sure if the gun could handle what was coming.

"Of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" Wendy threw her head forward, unleashing the large funnel of red fire and blue sky towards Reve.

"Here we go!" Reve clicked the trigger on the Reverse Slayer, causing it to start sucking up the Omega Flame Sky Roar. However, unlike before Reve slid back across the ground as the Reverse Slayer started to suck up the roar.

"That's too much power…!" Waiston shouted.

"He's not gonna make it…" Luke said.

Luke was right, before Wendy let up on the roar, the Reverse Slayer exploded from the overload of power, sending Reve back across the ground. "DAMN!" Reve dropped the Reverse Slayer, cursing under his breath that he was going to have to fix that later. But, he pulled out his magnum which had five shots left.

"Now's my chance…" Wendy took a step forward, wincing visibly from the damage she had, but she ran forward, spreading her arms. "Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy unleashed red fire winds towards Reve's direction.

"Damn…" Reve ran into the incoming attack, shifting his body around, and came out with minimal damage as he pointed his magnum at Wendy's face. "Bang," Reve clicked the trigger, the large bullet sending Wendy flying into the stands, KO'ed.

"W-WENDY!" Carla rushed over to Wendy, shaking her a few times. "G-Get her into the infirmary, quickly!"

"Right!" Lucy nodded, picking up Wendy and rushed her into the infirmary.

"Woo, go Revey!" Selene cheered from the sidelines.

"That leaves Gildarts…" Reve smirked, beckoning for Gildarts to come down. "C'mon, I'll take you down right now…"

"What, Reve, are you serious!?" Aira shouted. "At least let me heal you first!"

"I'm feeling pretty good right now, actually," Reve said with a cocky smirk, his attitude starting to get the better of him as he stood up straight.

"Kick his butt, Gildarts!" Natsu shouted as Gildarts made his way into the center of the arena, facing off against a moderately damaged Reve.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gildarts asked, crossing his arms.

"Of course, White Eclipse, or second place, and we aren't second," Reve said, pointing his magnum at Gildarts. "Besides, if I can't beat you, Sidney will." Reve clicked the trigger on his magnum, firing off the third shot, the bullet hurtling towards Gildarts.

"What's he trying to prove…?" Taya asked, looking over at Sidney, who still refused treatment from Aira.

"I see…" Gildarts suck his hand out, catching Reve's bullet, and dissembling it with ease; Gildarts then fired off a white blast from his hand, also known as his Crash Magic.

"Heh!" Reve smirked, rolling out of the was as he spread his arms out again, exhausted from having a little less than half of his magical energy left. "Devil's Wheel!" Gildarts was prepared for the worst, but he looked around, seeing nothing around him, until a bullet flew into his metal arm, causing Gildarts to turn around after the hit. "Ten snipers, too far for the normal human eye to see; ten bullets, one down, nine to go. Can you survive, Clive?"

"Only nine?" Gildarts said with a confident smirk, throwing his cape back, revealing his body.

Gildarts comment ticked Reve off just slightly as he pointed his magnum once again, firing off the fifth shot towards Gildarts. "We'll see how you feel about that after this!"

Gildarts ran forward with his hand back, throwing it forward as he released a white net that met with Reve's magnum, disassembling the bullet to pieces as a bullet from afar aimed itself at Gildarts leg; Gildarts was unable to dodge the powerful bullets, so he took the one to his leg, but he didn't let it bother him as he continued charging forward.

"Damn, I'm gonna have to call it!" Reve snapped his fingers, ordering all the remaining snipers to fire down at Gildarts.

"Hn!" Gildarts brought his cape as a defense as the remaining eight bullets fired down on him, creating holes in his cape. Gildarts emerged from the attack undamaged, now rushing at Reve with his fist pulled back.

"Shit…!" Reve's good eyes were gone; he was dizzy since this was the last ounce of magical energy he had in his hands. He clicked the trigger one last time, sending the final bullet to the incoming Gildarts…but it was useless, Gildarts punched the bullet to the side, then pulled his fist back once again, swinging it at Reve's cheek, landing a direct hit as Reve hit the arena wall, in KO.

"HE GOT HIM!" Natsu grinned, throwing a fist into the air.

"Dammit, Reve…" Taya shook her head. "What was he trying to prove…?"

"Hmph…" Sidney stood up, not even caring about the pain in his chest. "I guess it's come down to this."

"Sidney, you're injured! You should fight him at full strength!" Aira protested.

"We're going to finish this now," Sidney replied, ignoring the pain in his chest. "I didn't want to be dragged into this in the first place, but I will finish your fight anyway," Sidney walked into the center of the arena, looking at Gildarts. "I knew it would come to this."

"I did too." Gildarts replied, unleashing his magical energy, causing the arena to shake.

"We're both injured, no matter how much you try to play it off," Sidney started to release his magical energy, the entire city of Crocus shaking as a result. Gildarts held a hand back, charging towards Sidney.


	58. Chapter 58: FT vs WE Final Round

Previously, on Fairy Tail:

"The doors to Fairy Tail sudden flew open, and several members…no, all of White Eclipse walked in. Luke, Reve, Zalen, Heather, Nightwalker, Kuro, Waiston, Aira, Selene, Takeru, Sidney, Nami, Taya, Zain, Michio, Jaxon, Jack, Cygnus, and Master Calium walked in. "Well well…" Reve said, looking at the Fairy Tail guild.

"What are YOU guys doing here?!" Natsu asked, jumping up from his fight with Gajeel and Cynthia as he glared at the White Eclipse mages.

"You better not have come to cause trouble," Markarov glared at Calium, knowing he was the Master of White Eclipse and didn't forgive Calium for allowing his White Eclipse members to harm his Fairy Tail children.

"Of course not…" Calium replied.

"They WHY are you here…?" Erza asked, exchanging glares with Reve.

"We have a proposal," Reve said, keeping his eyes locked with Erza's.

"And what might that be?" Markarov asked.

"We're always going back and forth between who the strongest guild in Fiore is, right?" Luke asked, smirking slightly. "Though there really is no competition…." He added.

"We're the best!" Cynthia commented, unsure why she did. "I mean…carry on…"

"Well, how about we settle it?" Reve smirked.

"You wanna go right now!?" Natsu engulfed his right hand in flames as he smirked at every single White Eclipse mage present. I'll take you all down!" Natsu lunged forward, only to have a giant hand come down and one hit KO him.

"Calm down, Natsu," Marakrov said. "We don't even know what they're really proposing."

"Ten members from each guild, randomly picked, fight," Zalen explained. "When a member loses, they are out of the tournament, if you will." Zalen took off his glasses, cleaning them as he went on to explain. "If two fighters tie, they are out of the tournament anyway, and this continues until one guild's members all lose."

"That's it?" Gray asked, smirking. "Well, I guess these will be a short ten battles, Fairy Tail is gonna win."

"YEAH!" The background characters shouted in unison, the idea of showing they were really number one riling them up.

"Calm down, stripper boy," Luke replied. "We don't even know who's in yet."

"When do we find out?" Mirajane asked, unable to hide her evil smirk as she planned on giving every White Eclipse member a showing of her full power if she was picked.

"Here," Calium handed a hand to Markarov. "Inside the hat is a list of names from our guild. You will select the guild members randomly so it doesn't look like we rigged it."

"Hrm…" Marakrov dug his hand in the hat, pulling out a small white slip of paper. "Luke Cloud."

Markarov ignored the comment as he kept going. "Kuro Crane."

"Aira Aeolus."

"Takeru." "Waiston Tunundra," "Reve Volver"Cygnus Gwydion."

"Selene Marquise."

"Heather."

"And last but not least…" Markarov read the last slip of paper. "Sidney Castle."

"OOOH!" Waiston couldn't help but let out his excitement. "IT'S OVER FAIRIES! …I mean…No I mean that!"

"Tch, I'll be sure to knock you all down!" Natsu said with a smirk, seemingly recovered from Marakrov's hit earlier. He eyed Sidney with a glare, praying that he was picked so he could have a chance at beating Sidney.

"Here, Master," Mirajane said as she handed Calium a hat with a list of names with all the Fairy Tail guild members.

"Thank you," Calium replied, taking the first slip of paper from the hat. "Gray Fullbuster."

"Wendy Marvell," Calium read on.

Calium cleared his throat before pulling out the third slip of paper, "Cynthia."

"Lisanna Strauss."

"Levy McGarden."

"Natsu Dragneel."

"Keep dreaming, Salamander," Sidney replied.

Calium continued, "Lucy Heartfilia."

"Gajeel Redfox."

"Elfman Strauss."

"And last but not least…Gildarts Clive." Calium read with a straight face.

"So, Reve, Takeru, Luke, Aira, Selene, Cygnus, Heather, Kuro, Waiston, and Sidney, vs. Fairy Tail's Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Wendy, Cynthia, Lisanna, Elfman, Lucy, Levy, and Gildarts…" Calium said aloud. "These should be some interesting matches…"

"Fairy Tail is going to win!" Lucy raised the Fairy Tail insignia up, pointing her index finger and thumb out, everyone else doing the same.

"Fairy Tail has, and always will be number one!" Natsu grinned. "And we're going to prove it…When is this taking place?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Calium replied, turning his back as he started walking out of Fairy Tail.

.

.

Now, the long tournament is finally coming to a close! With only the aces of Fairy Tail and White Eclipse remaining, Gildarts and Sidney, who will be the one to claim victory in their guild, and earn the title as number one guild in Fiore!?

A large explosion rocked the entire stadium, the wind blowing harshly as it nearly sent the light weighted people flying away. "They're gonna destroy this entire place!" Cana screamed out.

"YOU CAN DO IT GILDARTS!" Natsu screamed, holding his ground from the intense tremors and roaring winds.

"SIDNEY, IT'S ALL YOU!" Luke shouted, almost blown back by the next shockwave.

Gildarts ducked Sidney's incoming punch, retaliating with an elbow to Sidney's injured chest, causing Sidney to flinch as he took a few steps back, opening his palms. "Tombstones…" From Sidney's palm, a multitude of tombs stones launched at Gildarts.

Gildarts held his hand out, firing off a magical white net that met the tombstones midway, disassembling them into nothing; Gildarts then threw his arm forward, clashing with Sidney's fist once again, causing another shockwave to boom through the arena, shaking the entire stadium.

"THIS IS SO COOOOOOOOLL!" Jason yelled, his eyes sparkling from the amazing fight he was witnessing.

"THIS IS HELLA WILD!" Bacchus screamed, grinning from the excitement.

"Gildarts don't give up!" Makarov put his hand into the air, sticking out his thumb and index finger, the rest of Fairy Tail soon following suit.

"Don't let them take it, Sidney!" Jaxon shouted as he winced when Gildarts took a hit, raising his three of his fingers into a W, the rest of White Eclipse following suit behind him.

Though the battle was lasting for a good thirty minutes, it was clearly starting to reach its climax as the damage the two Ace's took started to catch up to them; Sidney's injury from his fight with Cynthia, and Gildarts's leg injury from his battle with Reve. "For Fairy Tail's sake, I won't lose!" Gildarts landed a harsh blow to Sidney's cheek, causing Sidney to stumble back.

"I won't allow anyone to look down on White Eclipse, no matter how idiotic most of them are," Sidney replied with no emotion, landing a harsh punch to Gildarts's face, causing the might ace to stumble back a few feet, panting.

"You bastards are pretty tough," Gildarts said, shaking his head slightly, a smirk forming across his lips.

"You're not too bad yourself…" Sidney replied, shaking his head slightly as he placed his foot on the ground, causing a magic circle to appear under his foot. "Resurrection: Werewolf," after Sidney spoke, three cliché looking werewolves appeared from the magic circle, giving off a chilling howl as foam appeared on their mouths.

"That's a new one…" Luke commented.

Gildarts watched carefully as the cliché werewolves rushed towards him at high speeds. "Hn…" A werewolf lunged at the Fairy Tail ace with its mouth open, baring its large fangs as it went into bite Gildarts. "This could be a problem…" He admitted as he brought his prosthetic arm up, allowing the wolf to bite onto that, which didn't cause much damage. However, the other two wolves were right behind the first, and they were aiming themselves at Gildarts' legs to slow him down. "Tch…" Gildarts threw his arm harshly to the side, causing one werewolf to vanish. For the other two, he threw his hand forward, sending a white net of magical energy towards them, causing them to vanish. Sidney was on the offense after this, however, as he rushed Gildarts with a powerful right hook, but Gildarts was prepared, using his normal forearm to block the attack, an emotionless expression pained over his face.

Sidney quickly brought his free arm back, landing a harsh blow to Gildarts' chest, causing the mighty Crash mage to slide back once again, but he stopped after two seconds. Sidney cracked his fist after. "Are we done with the warm up?" Sidney asked with a monotonous voice.

"WARM UP?!" Happy shouted, his eyes wide.

"You mean they've just been sizing each other up this last half hour?!" Cana asked, spilling the mug of beer she was holding.

"No way...that's the most intense warm up I've ever seen..." Luke said with widened eyes.

"Guess so," Gildarts replied, a thick white aura surrounding his body, darkening it considerably as the only thing that visible was his red eyes. Sidney followed suit, a black aura escaping his body as the entire arena started to shake, followed by the entire city of Crocus, and the area surrounding Crocus with at least a 40 mile radius.

Cynthia stirred in the infirmary, the powerful tremor starting to wake her up. "Hnnnn..."

Wendy sat up, her injuries from her fight with Reve stinging. "Ouch..." Her attention quickly shifted from her injuries to the trembling earth as things from atop the shelves started to collapse, shattering when they hit the ground. "W-What's going on...?!"

Carla, who fell asleep watching over Wendy and Cynthia, woke up from the sounds of Wendy's voice, letting out a yelp of surprise when she noticed the shaking. "W-What is this?!" She then remembered hearing that Gildarts defeated Reve, meaning it was down to Gildarts and Sidney. "Are they about to go all out?!"

"These two are not ordinary Wizards..." Jura said quietly as the shaking slowly started to die down.

"They're monsters..." Lyon said with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

"Holy hell..." Blues was shaking, not from excitement, but from fear. The two mages facing off against each other weren't normal, just as Jura said. They were monsters...

Natsu's jaw dropped just as the shaking died down completely, his entire body shaking. "H-He wasn't even trying against me and..." He thought back to how Sidney defeated him with one punch, and how Cynthia was able to injure Sidney. "He's just like Gildarts..."

"But stronger!" Hanako yelled out innocently from the other side.

"Are you ready?" Gildarts asked, his cape blowing slightly in the wind.

"I am ready," Sidney replied with a stern nod. His chest was crying out in pain from Cynthia's attack earlier, but it wasn't bothering him, thus leading him to ignore it. "Don't hold back on me, Clive. Otherwise you'll live to regret it."

Gildarts smirked cockily, one side of his lip raising. "I'm not too good at holding back, now. And even if I was, I don't hold back, no matter the situation."

"Excellent," Sidney nodded, tugging at his scarf with two of his fingers to show a sign of respect for Gildarts. Sidney then placed his foot in the ground, causing a magic circle to appear. "Resurrections: Vampire, Frankenstein." Using quite a bit of magic power, Sidney created a giant 50 foot cliche Frankenstein looking monster from the magic circle, and a cliche looking vampire as well. The Vampire opened its wings, sending a wave of bats towards Gildarts as the Frankenstein raised its fist, bringing it down on Gildarts.

"Here we go..." Gildarts wasn't sure what was the bigger threat; Frankenstein, or the Vampire. He knew the Frankenstein was powerful, but he remembered how Cynthia was able to throw it back. The vampire was new, so he decided to focus himself on that. He stuck his arm out, shooting a white net towards the incoming bats; but the bats dodged the net, causing his eyes to widen. "They learn..." Gildarts thought to himself, obviously impressed with Sidney's ghost magic. The bats flew at Gildarts, but they didn't cause damage; they only caused him to cover him as they acted as more of a distraction and annoyance. "Annoying little turds!" Gildarts groaned as he attempted to shoo the bats away, but then the Frankenstein's fist landed on Gildarts, shattering the ground it hit on impact.

"Gildarts!" Natsu shouted, leaning over the railing.

About thirty seconds passed before the fist of the Frankenstein slowly lifted up, but not on its own. Gildarts was holding the giant fist up with one hand, and the ground shattering beneath him was just him utilizing his Crash Magic, breaking the ground under his feet to soften the impact as much as possible. "Heh,". Gildarts smirked, using his other hand to grab the Frakenstein's fist. "My turn," Gildarts hurled the Frankenstein into the air, forcing Sidney to cause it to vanish.

"Vampire, go," Sidney ordered, pointing forward. The vampire nodded slowly, moving across the ground without taking a step, moving almost like a shadow.

Gildarts reared his normal arm back, infusing it with Crash Magic as he slammed his fist into the incoming vampire's face, immediately causing the Vampire to explode. "Heh!" Gildarts said with a cocky smirk, but, that smirk quickly faded as Sidney rushed in after his vampire was destroyed, and landed a powerful blow to Gildarts' face, causing Gildarts to stumble back, his guard down. Sidney took advantage of this and begun to unleash a brutal combination of punches and kicks at Gildarts. Sidney landed a kick to Gildarts' side, a knee to his chest, and finished it off with an elbow to Gildarts' face...but the ace regained himself by that point, and he blocked the elbow with his metal forearm. He then reared his normal arm back, slamming it into Sidney's stomach.

"!" The impact caused Sidney's eyes to widen, obviously winded from the blow to his stomach, taking a few steps back as he attempted to regain his breath.

"My turn!" Gildarts reared his fist back, but as he did, a magic circle appeared in front of Sidney, running through him quickly as he turned transparent, like a ghost. Just as the magic circle turned Sidney transparent, Gildsrts threw all of his weight into one fist, hoping to end the fight right there, but he missed, stumbling forward and through Sidney.

Sidney turned, regaining his physical form, grabbing Gildarts by this cape just as he passed through, using it to hold him in place. "..." Sidney then reared his fist back, tugging harshly on Gildarts' cape, pulling him back. Sidney threw his fist forward at a violent velocity, slamming it into the back of Gildarts' head. The blow was so powerful Sidney was forced to release his grip on Gildarts, and the mighty Fairy Tail ace fell to the ground, not moving for a good five seconds before standing up again, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm gonna feel that one in the morning..." Gildarts said to himself as he turned around, just in time to block Sidney's kick with his hand. "Too slow!" Gildarts used his strength to push Sidney away, causing the Ghost mage to lose his footing for a few seconds. Gildarts then used this time to sending a powerful beam towards Sidney.

"Sidney, look out!" Zalen shouted.

Sidney quickly regained his footing, clapping his hands together as four tombstones appeared in front of Sidney in a domino like fashion. Sidney knew this wasn't going to be enough to stop the beam, so he crossed his arms I've his body. The beam tore through the first two tombstones with ease, then took several seconds to tear through the other two and slam into Sidney, causing the White Eclipse ace to skid back across the ground a good several yards before coming to a stop. Sidney and Gildarts were panting now, feeling the injuries of their prior battles and from this battle starting to catch up to them, but they weren't going to give up until the other had fallen. Sidney clapped his hands together, causing a purple fog to appear.

"There we go!" Zalen shouted, grinning widely.

"It's that fog...!" Lucy gasped.

"Gildarts, it's a trick, don't fall for it!" Natsu shouted, but it was too late. Gildarts closer his eyes, and the fog started to take effect, blocking Gildarts from reality as he looked around.

"What the...?" Gildarts raised an eyebrow and looked around, his eyes wide as he was standing in the middle of a burning wasteland. Fairy Tail was burnt down to the ground, the famous Fairy Tail symbol slowly burning away. That wasn't all, when Gildarts looked down, he saw the one thing he never wanted to. Cana; dead, on the ground. "C-Cana...!" Gildarts froze, unsure on what to do. Before he could say or do anything else, Sidney landed a devestating punch to Gildarts' face, shocking the Crash Mage back into reality as he flew into the nearby wall, causing a large dust cloud to kick up.

"GILDARTS!" Natsu's eyes widened tremendously as Gildarts flew into the wall. The dust cloud dispersed after a few minutes and Gildarts was hunched over, the haymaker causing serious damage since he took the hit unprepared.

"You..." Gildarts' tone was no longer confident. "You may be a stronger mage then I..." Gildarts threw off his cape, revealing his bandaged body. "But there are two things I won't allow. My fears to be exploited, and shaking Fairy Tail." Gildarts looked up at Sidney with a serious expression, scowling as he ran towards Sidney, infusing his fist with Crash magic as he engaged the Ghost in close combat once again. The two were even, Sidney and Gildarts either dodged each other hits, clashed, causing shockwaves to boom throughout the entire city, breaking any and all class within a 10 mile radius, or hit each other, letting out loudened grunts as spit flew from their mouths with every blow to the face. "All of them are counting me! The master, my daughter, Natsu, Lisanna!" Gildarts exclaimed as he took a forceful hit to the face, returning Sidney's punch with his own. "I won't let Fairy Tail down!"

"I already told you, Clive!" Sidney exclaimed, avoiding Gildarts punch, ducking quickly as he landed a roaring uppercut to Gildarts' chin, causing the mighty Gildarts to stumble back one step, but he held his ground as he continued to assault Sidney. "I won't allow the name of White Eclipse to shamed. I was brought into this, and I will finish it to the end,". Sidney infused his fist with raw magic energy to match Gildarts' Crash. The two continued to clash for several minutes before sliding back a few yards respectively, both panting heavily. "Hmph," Sidney realized that he was almost out of magical energy, so he had to make his last attack count. "It's been fun, Gildarts Clive," Sidney said, rushing forward with his fist pulled back.

"Same to you, Sidney Castle," Gildarts held his arm back, throwing it at the same time Sidney threw his, the collision of the two fists causing a powerful shockwave that literally destroyed the arena floor, blowing the two aces back as a large cloud of smoke covered the arena.

"W-Who won!?" Natsu asked as the smoke lingered in the air.

"It had to be Sidney, right!?" Selene shouted. All went silent as the smoke started clear…the one standing was…neither. Both combatants were down.

"THEY TIED!?" Lisanna's eyes widened.

"N-NO WAY!" Zalen's glasses fell off his face, and he didn't even bother to pick them up

"…THAT MEANS WE'RE STILL NUMBER ONE!" Natsu grinned widely, throwing the Fairy Tail hand sign into the air. "TOLD YOU!"

"Tch…!" Luke turned his head. "Bull…we're even…"

"THAT. WAS. SO. COOOOOOOOOL!" Jason jumped for joy yet again, grinning widely. "THAT WAS AWESOME! WHITE ECLIPSE AND FAIRY TAIL TIED! COOOOOL!"

"That was amazing…" Mavis let out an exasperated breath before smiling sweetly to Fairy Tail. "It was close too…But I had faith Fairy Tail would show their true power..."

"All in a day's work, First Master!" Makarov gave a grin.

"You've done a great job with your children, Third," Mavis replied, nodding a few times. "The Third Generation of Fairy Tail really is something!"

"I see..." Calium nodded slowly as the spectators cheered for Fairy Tail. "Let's go home..."

Cynthia walked out of the infirmary along with Wendy, looking over at all the other injured members who fought proudly for Fairy Tail. "We won...?"

"That's right," Laxus nodded. "Fairy Tail is still number one."

"That's great!" Cynthia grinned. "I helped...right?"

"Of course you did!" Lucy gave a thumbs up to Cynthia, grinning.

"Is everyone okay?" Wendy asked. "I'll heal anyone who's still hurt..."

"Don't worry about that, Wendy," Erza replied, suddenly in a busty nurse outfit. "I'll help anyone who's injured!" And with that, the injured males, and even the males uninjured (But now nose bleeding like no one's business) rushed towards Erza.

"Oh..." Wendy turned her head, looking down with at saddened expression, her dark blue hair covering her eyes.

"Why did they just...?" Cynthia blinked a few times, unable to understand why all the males were around Erza.

"It's because my breasts are too small..." Wendy mumbled to herself poking her fingers together.

"Oh, don't be silly, Wendy!" Cynthia said with a reassuring tone. "Erza's breasts aren't-" Cynthia turned to Erza as she spoke, stopping in mid sentence when she looked at Erza's breasts. "Uh..."

"Yours are bigger than mine too..." Wendy continued.

"They are no-" Cynthia took a look at her chest realizing that hers was indeed slightly larger than Wendy's, then back at Wendy's flat chest. "MOVING ON!" Cynthia dragged Wendy over Erza, which she learned was a bad idea because the bandages Erza placed on everyone were WAY too tight. "MMMPH!" Was the only sound Cynthia, and everyone else could make with the casts over their mouths.

"I assume that means everyone's feeling better, right?" Erza asked with a smile. "All in a day's work!"

"NOT OKAY. NOT OKAY!" Cynthia screamed through the bandages over her mouth, but it came out muffled despite how much she raised her voice. "I can't feel my everything now...That's not supposed to happen AFTER you get bandaged up..."

"What was that, Cynthia?" Erza asked, smiling innocently as she held out more bandages. "Do you need more bandages? I know that Eclipse Tower must have hurt...so I understand."

"NONONONO!" Cynthia shook her head frantically, waving her arms in front of her frantically. Though her voice couldn't be heard because it was muffled from the bandages, so Erza assumed for some reason she was saying yes.

"Alright!" Erza moved in with the bandages, grinning.


	59. Chapter 59: Behind the Scenes

"Gildarts…where are you going…?" Natsu asked as Gildarts stood in front of the front doors of the Fairy Tail building with a small bag hoisted over his shoulder.

"I should've been able to defeat Sidney two weeks ago," Gilidarts replied, looking over the members of Fairy Tail that were present. "I didn't and even though we're still the number one guild, I feel as though I should head out again, to get stronger. You all know how sitting around isn't my thing, and I've been here for quite a while now."

"Are you coming back…?" Cynthia asked, looking up at Gildarts.

"Sometime soon," Gildarts replied with a nod.

"Tch, stay safe, you old geezer…" Cana said while crossing her arms and looking away, not wanting to admit she feels a little upset that her father is leaving for who knows how long.

"Don't worry, I will," Gildarts flashed a smile before turning around, exiting the guild. "Stay safe, everyone."

"Aw man…Gildarts is so cool! I wanna fight him when he gets back!" Cynthia shouted, the though exciting her. "I'm gonna beat him this time too!"

"No way!" Natsu stepped in front of Cynthia, smirking. "I'm gonna beat Gildarts when he gets back!"

"You wish! I pushed him back farther than you did, so I've heard, so I have a better chance at winning!" Cynthia nodded, crossing her arms with a confident smirk.

"Oh yeah? You wanna go right now!?" Natsu leaned down, forehead to forehead with Cynthia.

"You're on, Fire Dragon! I'll burn you with my flames again!" Cynthia replied, pressing her forehead against Natsu's.

"Outside, let's go!" Natsu nodded, and then sprinted outside alongside Cynthia.

"I think Natsu's attitude has been rubbing off on her…" Lucy rubbed the back of her head as she watched the two Fire Dragon's head outside.

"I think all of our attitudes have rubbed off on her," Mirajane replied with a sweet smile.

"What makes you say that?" Lucy asked, looking over at Mirajane.

"I think she's adapted all of our personalities, but she can't seem to pick which one she wants to stay with," Mirajane replied, a semi worried expression appearing over her face. "It's a bit worrisome, to be honest."

"Why do you say that, Mira-san…?" Wendy looked up at Mira, tilting her head slowly.

"I don't think she knows how to adapt her own personality…" Mirajane frowned, looking down at the counter of the bar, sighing. "She's been a member of Fairy Tail for quite some time now, right?"

"That's right…" Wendy nodded slowly, smiling at the memory of Cynthia becoming a member of Fairy Tail.

"I'm just afraid she won't be able to define herself," Mirajane nodded slowly.

"I'm sure she will soon!" Wendy said with a cheerful smile.

"I hope so…" Mirajane replied.

"Now that we're on the subject of Cynthia…" Erza started. "It's been a while since the Council made any moves on her…"

"Do you think they've given up on her?" Lucy asked, taking a seat in a chair nearby.

"It looks like they did…" Erza placed her hand under her chin, closing her eyes as she began to think.

"Do you think it would be safe if Cynthia and I went out later, just to hang out…?" Wendy asked, looking up at Erza.

Erza nodded slowly in response, "Yes, I think that would be okay. Just don't go too far from Fairy Tail or Fairy Hills…Just in case the Council tries something like they did before…"

"Hai!" Wendy grinned. "I'll wait after her fight with Natsu!"

.

.

"Where's Sidney?" Luke asked. "I've looked all over, but I can't find him."

"He left," Zalen responded, cleaning off his glasses.

"Left?" Luke asked, looking over at Zalen.

"He didn't like his performance against Gildarts, so he took some SS class mission and left about an hour ago," Zalen replied, putting his glasses back on.

"Huh…Well, I can't say I don't know the feeling…I lost to WENDY," Luke groaned, leaning against the wall. "Sad part is I forgot about that stupid Omega Flame Sky thing in the heat of battle…"

"That girl is stronger than she gets credit for!" Kuro said, walking in the main area of the guild with a bowl of noodles in his hands. "She beat Aira, you, and she broke Reve's Reverse Slayer!"

"She still owes me for that!" Reve yelled from somewhere in the guild.

"Hn…and then Cynthia…" Luke sighed. "That girl…I don't even know what to think about her."

"I like her!" Aira said from the couch, munching on a bag of chips. "She's kawaii!"

"She's great!" Kuro grinned, slurping down the bowl of noodles quickly. "She's really strong too! She beat Heather, Waiston, and she hurt Sidney pretty bad. It's been a while since I've seen that happen!"

"That injuries the reason Sidney tied," Aira nodded. "And because he wouldn't let me heal him. Stubborn."

"Not much you can do about that, sadly," Zalen sighed. "He is Sidney after all, and I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

.

.

Cynthia walked back into Fairy Tail, dusting her hands off, covered in minor burn marks, her no sleeve green shirt slightly burned, and her black pants charred all around. "Hehe…"

"Where's Natsu?" Lucy asked, looking over Cynthia's shoulders.

"Oh…I kinda…left him…on a moving object…" Cynthia smiled nervously.

"Natsuuu!" Happy flailed before flying outside to Natsu.

"So, you beat him fair and sqaureish?" Romeo asked Cynthia.

"You could say that," Cynthia nodded a few times before she was dragged away by Erza and Lucy. "WAH! What's wrong!?" Cynthia flailed her arms around until Erza and Lucy hushed Cynthia.

"Ssh, nothing's wrong," Lucy replied.

"Then why seclude me over to this corner!?" Cynthia asked, raising her voice.

"Ssssh!" Erza placed her finger on her mouth as she made the quieting noise. "You know what today is, right?"

"The…16th of August, yes," Cynthia nodded, and then stayed silent for a few minutes as she remembered something. "WEND-"

"SSSH!" Lucy hushed Cynthia, looking around for any spot of Wendy. "Whew…"

"I totally forgot her birthday! I'm a horrible best friend!" Cynthia flailed her arms around while speaking in a hushed tone.

"It's a good thing we reminded you then," Erza gave a soft smile before speaking again. "Lucy and I have a favor to ask of you when the 31st comes around."

"Wendy's birthday…? What is it?" Cynthia asked, looking around for any trace of Wendy in case she was eavesdropping on the conversation.

"We just need you to keep Wendy away from the guild until a certain time," Lucy nodded. "We have something super special planned for her, but we're gonna need her away from the guild for a while.

'That's easy enough, I love spending time with Wendy anyway! But how will I know when it's time for us to come back…?" Cynthia asked, looking at the two females.

"I'll have Natsu and Gray let you know when," Erza nodded. "That's all we wanted to ask."

"You can count on me!" Cynthia. "Where's Wendy though…?"

"…Good question," Lucy asked, looking around. "I think she went out really quickly with Carla while you were fighting Natsu."

"Oh, I wanted to hang out with her a little tonight, but I can wait!" Cynthia nodded as she sat down at a table, looking around at the lively guild, thinking to herself how Fairy Tail has changed her as a person, and that she enjoyed the change. Though, she was truly unaware of the fact she was adapting everyone's personalities at the same time, shifting them around constantly, and that her presence in Fairy Tail put the lives of everyone inside in mortal danger.

.

.

In an unknown location, a girl with black and white hair, a red and normal colored eye, was watching the conversations between both Fairy Tail and White Eclipse. "Both of their aces are gone, it seems…" The female said to Aiden. "Is it time now?"

"No, no, not yet…" Aiden replied, waving a hand dismissively. "I want to do a few more field test before we start Fiore's End."

"Ugh, this better be worth the wait…" The female sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Calm down, Ruika," Aiden sighed at Rukia's sigh. "In fact, I have a job for you…"

"Now hold on a second," A voice said in a somewhat annoyed tone. The voice sent a small shiver up Ruika's spine, knowing what was coming. A male walked from the shadows, in front of Aiden. His upper body was concealed by the darkness of the area.

"I don't like the way you've been telling MY people what to do," the male said, obviously annoyed.

"They did sign up for the job, Daityas," Aiden replied with a simple nod.

"Job? We're not some shitty legal guild," Daityas said with more annoyance, sticking his finger out, lighting it in Hell's flames. He then jabbed his finger at Aiden's chest, causing a burn. Aiden didn't flinch, despite the power of the flames. "The hell...?" Daityas raised a brow, stepping back into the shadows, his red eyes illuminating the darkness.

"I have experience with many kinds of flames, Hell Fire Demon," Aiden replied cooly. "Though, I will admit those flames left quite a burn..." Aiden flashed a quick smile, wincing internally from Hell's flames.

"Tch, fuckin' weirdo...what the hell is this job about?" Daityas asked, crossing his arms.

"It's simple. A test subject of mine escaped a few months ago, and just recently I've found her. Along with the help of Maggie Solfatara," Aiden nodded.

"So that's where she's been? Helping you? Better be worth it,". Daityas have Aiden a greatly annoyed look.

"Oh, it will be. You see, this test subject, my daughter, Cynthia, has the power to bring the entire country of Fiore to its knees," Aiden's calm expression slowly turned into a sinister smirk as he spoke, unable to hold in his excitement.

"The entire country of Fiore now...?" Daityas raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by this. "How so?"

"She is a second generations Omega Fire Dragon slayer,". Aiden started. "I was going to go with God's flames, but the only Flame God Slayer I knew died just a little before I could. So I went with the next best thing, a dragon's flames. But, I modified the flames to be stronger than that of a normal dragon, but they aren't quite God's flames. So, that's where the Omega comes in. Her power comes from her emotions, which is where the special lacrima I created comes in. Whenever Cynthia is feeling strongly about any particular emotion, the lacrima amplifies her power, thus making her nearly unstoppable. Of course this has attracted the Council's attention..."

"The Council hasn't made any moves on her for a long time, though,". Ruika commented. "So why don't we-"

"Oh, I know that,". Aiden replied. I made sure they wouldn't be too much of a problem seven years ago."

"Sounds like you have Fiore's destruction planned?" Daityas asked.

"Indeed. It's only a matter of time now..." Aiden with a grin.

"Hm, when I come back from Hell I expect to see results; especially if you've hired Tartaros," Daityas backed into the shadows more, his red eyes eventually fading. "Rukia, come with me. As for you, scientist, if you cross any of them, you'll feel what Hell feels like."

"Oh, don't worry,". Aiden replied with a soft chuckle as Rukia faded away into the darkness. "I also hired another dark guild to help with this operation...Silent Sanctum." The darkness soon filled the room, the only sound audible was Aiden's sinister chuckle, "Cynthia, your time is coming..." His eyes have off an evil twinkle, before falling back into the darkness.


	60. Chapter 60: Beach Prep

Cynthia's blinked away, her vision blurry. "Hm…?" She spoke in a tired voice, starting to shift around when she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her. "Huh…?" Cynthia looked down, seeing Wendy fast asleep, cuddled up to Cynthia. "Oh yeah…" Cynthia thought back to the night before, the 18th, just after Wendy and Cynthia hung out all night.

{Flashback}

Cynthia was a restless sleeper lately, and the past two days she was unable to get any sleep. "Ugh…" Cynthia tossed and turned in her bed, groaning softly as she wasn't able to find a comfortable position. She was curious as to how Carla and Wendy could sleep so soundly over the last two days.

Wendy happened to be unable to sleep as well this particular night, and it was the first time she realized Cynthia was unable to sleep. Wendy sat up slowly, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she yawned softly. "Cynthia…?"

"Hm…" Cynthia sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Wendy…? Did I wake you…?"

Wendy shook her head slowly, frowning just a little. "No…I can't sleep…"

"You too…?" Cynthia asked, brushing her messy black hair behind her shoulders.

"Me too?" Wendy blinked a few times, looking over at Cynthia. "Have you not been sleeping at all tonight…?"

Cynthia nodded a few times, sighing. "Not just tonight, the last few nights…but I kept it to myself…"

"You should sleep…" Wendy nodded slowly, placing her hands on her lap.

"I wish I could…" Cynthia sighed again.

"Hmm…" Wendy thought for a few seconds before sliding out of her bed, and onto Cynthia's. "Maybe we'll sleep better if we sleep together?"

"Maybe…?" Cynthia shrugged slightly before laying down on her back. "It's worth a shot…"

"Hai," Wendy nodded slowly, laying down next to Cynthia, wrapping her arms around Cynthia as she snuggled into her chest, a relaxed smile crossing her face. "You're warm…" Wendy said quietly, yawning as she closed her eyes.

"Mhm…" Cynthia closed her eyes, her body relaxing almost instantaneously.

{End Flashback}

"She looks so peaceful…" Cynthia said with a soft smile as she looked at Wendy. Deciding that she didn't want to wake Wendy, she stayed snuggled up to her friend, closing her eyes as she went back to sleep.

.

.

It was about midafternoon in Fairy Tail; those inside were discussing the details of Wendy's birthday party, mainly Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza. "Wendy's birthday is in just over a week!" Lucy grinned. "I really hope she likes what we have planned."

"I bet she will," Lisanna nodded and gave a sweet smile. "I think we should all do something special for her and maybe Cynthia too! I always smile when I see Wendy and Cynthia together, because they make each other so happy."

"We should thank Cynthia for being such a good friend to Wendy, huh?" Gray suggested, looking around. "Plus, I think we could all use a day off too. We have been planning the last few weeks over this; I don't think it would be good to put our brains on overdrive."

"We never did celebrate for keeping the number one spot in Fiore…" Lucy said as she tapped her finger on her chin.

"She's right," Mirajane nodded. "I was wondering if we were ever going to do that…"

"I have an idea!" Natsu grinned.

"Is it a GOOD idea?" Gray asked, looking up at Natsu with a nonchalant look.

"It's better than anything you could come up with!" Natsu sneered, immediately going forehead to forehead with Gray.

"You sure about that? I wouldn't be surprised if all that heat melted what was left of your brain!" Gray replied, curling his lip in disgust towards Natsu.

Lucy pulled Natsu away from Gray after a five second struggle, allowing the Salamander to calm down as he shook his head. "What was your idea, Natsu?" Lucy asked, hoping to change the subject before Natsu and Gray fought each other once again.

"Well, I was thinking that we could go to the beach!" Natsu nodded, thinking that he came up with a brilliant idea.

"The beach?" Erza blinked a few times before nodding slowly. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."

"I TOLD you it was a good idea, Gray!" Natsu smirked victoriously.

"Even I could've come up with that one…anyone could have," Gray smirked.

"Why didn't you then?" Natsu replied, his smirk widening.

"A-ANYWAY!" Lucy pulled Natsu away even farther from Gray. "I think the beach sounds like a great idea! When should we go?"

"Well, I want Cynthia and Wendy to come along, so maybe someone should find them?" Natsu asked, taking a seat in a chair, cutting his eyes at Gray quickly.

"They've been asleep all day," Levy giggled a little after she spoke. "I checked on them earlier, and they were all snuggled up together, it was so cute!"

"Well, we'll wait on them! If they wake up within the hour, we're going down to the beach!" Natsu raised a fist into the air, a beach day sounding incredible the more he thought about it.

.

.

Things at White Eclipse were rather quiet since Sidney's departure. Members such as Luke, Cygnus, and Waiston were slightly upset at this fact because they wanted to test their strength against the infamous Ace, but were unable to do so because of his absence. "Man, this is lame…" Waiston kicked at the ground with his hands in his jacket, sighing heavily.

"Nothing interesting has happened…at all… Cygnus shrugged, chewing on a meatball sub.

"Things are only interesting if you make them interesting," Selene replied to the conversation as she walked into the kitchen.

"Where did she…never mind," Luke just shook his head, leaning against the wall, still thinking back to how the final match of the tournament was a tie. "If only I saw it coming…"

"Trust me, Luke," Waiston said as he looked up. "I bet none of us saw it coming. If we were a little stronger…"

"I think you should all stop dwelling in the past!" Nami nodded a few times as she hopped cheerfully down the stairs.

"Did you see Cynthia though?!" Luke blurted out.

"Yeah...that was crazy..." Selene replied, thinking back to Cynthia'a fight with Sidney.

"I said it before and I'll say it again, she's basically the only reason they won, and Sidney refusing Aira's help," Luke nodded.

"What can you do...?" Nami shrugged.

"Something bothers me though..." Luke continued, just as Reve, Taya, Aira, and Jaxon walked into the room.

"And what's that?" Selene asked, casually swiping a bag of Luke's chips from the kitchen.

"I don't think that was her full power..." Luke frowned just a little after speaking.

"Wait, what?" Reve interrupted the conversation as Luke's comment peaked his curiosity. "What's that supposed to mean, Cloud?" Reve asked with a questioning tone.

"I don't know," Luke replied. "I just know that Cynthia is a lot more powerful than she looks. And she got stronger after Sidney used the fog..."

"What are you trying to say?" Taya asked, crossing her arms underneath her chest as she eyed Luke.

"Oi...to be honest, I think that girl's a potential threat...or something..." Luke nodded slowly.

"Luke, she's just a child!" Selene protested.

"I know!" Luke replied, groaning. "Which is why I've been keeping quiet about it, but recently it's hard not to think that..."

"I think you're overreacting, Luke," Jaxon said with a minor laugh.

"I...ah...probably..." Luke sighed.

Selene thought about when Cynthia was whimpering on the ground after Sidney used his fog on her. The position Cynthia was in was oddly familiar to Selene, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Ugh..." Selene mumbled to herself, wishing Sidney was around so she could ask what he did to her.

"I think I know what the problem is," Reve said.

"And what's that?" Cygnus asked, looking over to Reve.

"We haven't relaxed in a long time, and we're still upset about that annoying tie. So, I think we should have a relaxation day."

"Relaxation?" Nami perked up, a smile forming across her face. "What kind?!"

"How's a beach day tomorrow sound?" Reve asked, looking around at the members present.

"Sounds riveting," Luke nodded several times, the beach sounding like a pleasant idea to him.

"Great, now get everyone who's here tomorrow, and be ready to go! It's a beach day tomorrow!" Reve smirked just a little.


	61. Chapter 61: FT Beach Trip

The refreshing wind blew gently on the shoreline, causing most of the Fairy Tail members present to let out a large sigh of relief. "Oh man, that felt great…" Lucy smiled softly, wearing a two piece bathing suit (along with all the other females).

"This is gonna be awesome!" Cynthia grinned, taking in the gentle breeze of the beach.

"Natsu, Gray," Erza turned her attention to the two rivals as everyone else went off to have fun.

"I didn't do anything! It was all him!" Natsu said, pointing at Gray as he shifted whatever he thought he was in trouble for.

"What!? Don't pin the blame on me!" Gray shouted.

"Knock it off," Erza said in a stern tone. Her voice immediately caused the two to stop fighting and turn to her with a nervous smile. "This is exactly what I DON'T want to see happening on this day off, do you understand me?" Erza crossed her arms under her chest, which was covered by a black bikini top.

"Y-Yes, Erza!" Natsu and Gray nodded in unison, giving a friendly truce handshake.

"I bet I can swim faster than you!" Natsu smirked, letting go of Gray's hand as he sprinted towards the open water.

"You wish!" Gray gave a grin before chasing after Natsu.

"Heh…" Erza smiled a little and then she proceeded to place a towel down on the heated sand, lying on her stomach to relax. "Oh…this is perfect…" Erza let out a content sigh as she rested her head on her arms.

Cynthia looked around the beach; surprised at the various activities everyone seemed to be indulging themselves into. She wanted to join, but she had no idea where to even begin. "Uh…"

"Something wrong, Cynthia?" Lucy asked, placing a towel down on the sand and sitting on it.

"I don't know what to do!" Cynthia flailed her arms around, upset at the thought she wouldn't' be able to have as much fun as everyone else.

"There's lots of stuff to do!" Lucy nodded, a cheerful smile gracing her lips. She then stood up, looking around at everyone. "Hm…Oh, I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Cynthia bounced on her heels excitedly.

"I'll get Levy-chan, and you'll get Wendy, and then we can play some volleyball in the water!" Lucy nodded twice, looking around for Levy.

"Volleyball…?" Even though Cynthia was unaware of what the game was, it did in fact peak her interest, so she nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll go get Wendy!" Cynthia skipped off happily in search of Wendy.

Wendy was near a small sandy hill, talking with one of the guild's employees, Kinana. The two were having a conversation when Cynthia walked up to them. "Cynthia!" Wendy said with a cheery voice. "Are you having fun at the beach?"

"Er…not yet," Cynthia replied, playing with a strand of her black hair. "Anyway, Lucy and I were wondering if you wanted to play volleyball with us! And Levy!"

"Volleyball? Sounds fun!" Wendy nodded, grinning widely.

"Hehe…" Kinana let out a small giggle.

"Huh?" Cynthia looked over at Kiana, confused by her giggle. "What's funny? I wanna know!"

"Nothing's funny," Kinana replied. "I was just thinking about the bond you two had."

"The bond…?" It took Cynthia a few seconds to realize that Kinana was referring to her and Wendy's friendship. "Oh!"

"What about it?" Wendy asked as she dusted off some sand from the small green skirt covering her bottom piece.

"I think it's cute," Kinana nodded, smiling at the two girls. "You two hold each other dearly to each other, right?" The two girls nodded slowly in response to the question, causing Kinana to smile a bit wider, yet there was a hint of sadness in it at the same time. "It reminds me of something I used to have…"

"Huh…?" Cynthia tilted her head slowly at Kinana's statement. "What do you mean…? Did you used to have someone who was dear to you?"

Kinana nodded slowly, rubbing her neck. "Mhm…my friend…I wasn't able to hold onto him, but it makes me happy seeing you two together like this. Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to keep you two from having fun! Go on!"

"It's not a problem at all, Kinana-san!" Wendy gave a reassuring smile before running over with Cynthia to Lucy and Levy.

"Erik…" Kinana frowned slightly as the two girls ran off, now wondering what was happening with her beloved friend, Erik.

.

.

"Rest and relaxation!" Luke grinned, only in orange swimming trunks as he, Reve, Taya, Nami, Zalen, Aira, Kuro, and Hanako made their way to the beach.

"Very much needed!" Nami grinned, wearing a two piece black with white poka dotted bathing suit.

"Don't cause any trouble," Zalen said, placing a towel down on the sand. "We're here to have fun, not cause riots…"

"Don't worry about it!" Jaxon nodded, sitting down on a chair.

"We won't cause any trouble, right, Reve?" Aira looked over to Reve, raising a questionable eyebrow.

"Tch, I'm not gonna do anything…" Reve waved a hand dismissively at Aira's look, immediately heading into the water to swim.

"I'm just gonna take a walk," Luke nodded a few times before walking off in a random direction.

"I wonder why Selene didn't come with us…" Aira sighed, crouching as she started to make a sand castle.

"She's just missing all the fun!" Nami nodded a few times, taking a seat in the hot sand, not too phased by it.

Luke looked around the beach, smiling slightly from the excitement in the air. He looked to the ocean, shivering slightly. "Ugh…I hate water…" He continued walking, looking around until he brushed shoulders with someone, a burning sensation causing him to jump back a few inches and look at the one he bumped into. "O-ow…sorry!"

"What's where you're going, you bloody wanker…" Maggie replied, brushing off her shoulder. Oddly enough, she was in a jump suit, but she was letting her bare feet enjoy the warmth of the sand.

"I said I was sorry…" Luke frowned slightly, and then looked at Maggie and the outfit she was in. "…Aren't you hot in that?"

"Nope," Maggie replied in a causal tone.

"Right…" Luke looked over at the small burn mark on his shoulder. "Yeesh…you're hot…"

Maggie just raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Hm?"

It took Luke a few seconds to realize what he said, and that it could've been taken out of context, so he quickly spoke again. "Temperature wise; you're hot temperature wise."

"I see…" Maggie replied.

Now feeling like he offended the girl in front of him, Luke quickly waved his hands back and forth in front of his face. "A-And you're attractive too! You know what…I'm just gonna go…" With that, Luke continued his walk forward.

"Tosser…" Maggie sighed, looking around. "Now…where is that bloody child…"

.

.

Lucy, Levy, Cynthia, and Wendy were locked in an intense, yet fun game of volleyball. Wendy palmed the volleyball up, giving Cynthia an opportunity to spike the ball, thus ending the match the girls were having. "Cynthia!"

"I'm on it!" Cynthia jumped into the air, flames appearing on her hand as she spiked the ball down at Levy and Lucy, a trail of red fire following the ball.

"W-Watch out, Levy-chan!" Lucy said with widened eyes, letting out a scream.

"WAH!" Levy flailed before tackling Lucy into the water, away from the volleyball as it hit the sand, creating a large hole.

"I think you over did it…" Wendy said with a sheepish smile.

"Oops…" Cynthia giggled a little as Lucy and Levy stood up. "We win though!" Cynthia high fived Wendy taking a victorious pose, grinning widely after, "Volleyball champions of the beach!" Cynthia closed her eyes, taking in the moment of winning her first volleyball game ever. A few seconds later a pair of blue swim trunks hit her face, causing her eyes to open. "WAAHH!" Cynthia jumped back as she looked at the pair of trunks.

"W-Who's are those!?" Lucy gasped, looking around the ocean nearby, only to see a naked Gray and a riled up Natsu.

"G-Gray-san put some clothes on!" Wendy's face went beet red as she covered her face.

"WHY IS HE NAKED!?" Cynthia cried out, then she took another look at Gray, "…And what's that thing on his…"

"OOOKAY I THINK YOU'VE SEEN ENOUGH," Lucy said as she ushered Cynthia and Lucy out of the water.

"JUVIA LIKES WHAT SHE SEES," Juvia started nose bleeding as hearts appeared in her eyes. "Juvia is in looove…"

Cynthia blinked, and then rolled her eyes at Juvia, as Juvia laid on her back on the sand, not moving. "…Cynthia thinks Juvia needs to stop being so-"

Juvia instantly appeared in front of Cynthia's face, glaring darkly at the young girl. "Juvia think Cynthia is a love rival! Juvia must destroy all love rivals…"

"I-I'm not a love rival!" Cynthia started to panic as she flailed her arms around frantically.

"Juvia saw Cynthia looked at Gray-sama's naked body!" Juvia protested, towering over Cynthia with the dark look growing even darker.

"H-HELP!" Cynthia flailed, realizing she had very few options since she was cornered by Juvia. Within the next few seconds, Wendy grabbed Cynthia's arm and yanked her away quickly away from Juvia.

"I got you!" Wendy said with a small grin, sitting down on the sand a few feet away.

"Whew…I thought she was gonna murder me…" Cynthia wiped a sweat drop from her forehead and grinned. "Hey…have you heard of a sandcastle…?"

"Mhm!" Wendy nodded, smiling. "They're fun to make!"

"Do you want to help me make on?" Cynthia asked.

"Of course! Let's do it!" Wendy said with a cheery voice.

"Rematch, let's go!" Natsu grinned as he floated in the water, looking over at Gray.

"You're on! Without clothes, you can't beat me!" Gray smirked and started swimming away quickly.

"I'll destroy you!" Natsu started to swim. "Swimmer of the Fire Dragon!" A trail of fire escaped Natsu's body as he used that to swim even faster than Gray.

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Lucy shouted from afar.

Happy was lounging in the water, looking down until an all too familiar shape passed by under water. Happy's eyes gleamed with excitement as his eyes turned into that of a predator. "Fiiiish…"

"There he goes…" Carla sighed, lying on her back in the water.

Happy stuck his paws into the water in attempt to grab the fish, but it kept swimming away. "Hold still!" Happy shouted, his love of fish taking over his mind. "I just wanna eat you!" Happy eventually grabbed the fish, grinning. "I got you!" Happy opened his mouth, preparing to take a bite out of the fish, but he was unable to because Natsu and Gray barreled past him, sending the poor fish hungry exceed into the air, dropping the fist in the process. "NOOOOO!"

Lucy sighed, shaking her head at her guild mates going slightly crazy, but she couldn't help but smile slightly. "I love you guys…" She said under her breath. She then turned, bumping shoulders with a male passing bye. "Oh, I'm sorry…"

Luke turned, starting to speak. "Oh, it's fi-…oh…" Luke just shook his head before turning around and walking the other way, purposely bumping into Lucy with enough force to almost push her over. Lucy would've yelled at Luke in retaliation, but she remembered she was there with Fairy Tail for relaxation, so she wasn't going to let the annoying Copy Mage get to her today.

"Tch…Luke…One of these days…" Lucy sighed before turning around, a little upset no one saw Luke bump into her and almost knock her over. "I'll just enjoy the rest of the day with everyone here!" Lucy nodded to herself, running back over to Fairy Tail to enjoy the rest of the beach day with her beloved family. In fact, they would stay at the beach until nightfall, and that's when things really started to get fun…


	62. Chapter 62: Beach Trip (Night)

Nightfall at White Eclipse was a rather slow one, without the other members around. The only members present inside the infamous guild was Selene, who was sparring outside the front doors with Takeru, Nightwalker, Heather, Zain, Michio, Waiston, and Cygnus. Heather walked into the kitchen, grabbing a few bottles of cleaning supplies. "Hm…" Heather reached up into a cabinet, pulling out a large cup. Heather grabbed the cup and the cleaning supplies, and set them on the table in the main area.

"What'cha got there, Heather?" Zain asked, eying the cleaning supplies and the large cup curiously.

"Dinner," Heather replied, pouring the liquids into the cups, swirling the cups around a little after. Heather then tilted the cup to her lips, drinking the poisonous liquids.

"I…" Zain blinked a few times before remembering that Heather was a Poison Dragon Slayer, so poison was food to her.

"I'm never going to get over that," Waiston said, watching Heather enjoying the cup of poison.

"Poison's not that bad," Cygnus replied to Waiston as Heather finished her cup.

"I don't see what the big deal about it is," Heather replied with a shrug. She looked at the door, seeing Takeru and Selene walk in, battered and cut from their sparring session. "Welcome back?"

"Heh, thanks…?" Selene stood up straight, trying to hide her fatigue from the others.

Michio walked into the kitchen, walking out a few minutes later with a large plate of waffles. "Dinner," Michio said, placing the plate of waffles on the table.

"Isn't it a little late for waffles?" Nightwalker asked, eying the plate hungrily despite his question.

"It's never too late for waffles," Michio replied, taking a few waffles from the plate and placing them on a small one for himself.

"This I agree with," Waiston replied with a nod.

"So, I have a question…" Cygnus started. "Those flying cats…that talk…what ARE they?"

"They're called exceeds," Waiston responded. "I've always wanted an exceed! Actually, no, what would be cooler is a flying polar bear with wings!"

"Hm…" Michio snapped his fingers, creating a polar bear with wings behind Waiston. "Hey, Waiston, turn around."

"Huh?" Waiston turned around, and his eyes widened. "WHOA!" Waiston hopped on the back of the polar bear and it started flying around the guild. Waiston was so happy that if the polar bear vanished he would probably quit life right then and there.

"That looks like fun…" Takeru mumbled to himself, watching Waiston ride the illusionary polar bear.

"Heh…" Michio made the polar bear vanish, and Waiston hit the ground. After a few minutes Waiston went into the kitchen, looking in the drawers. Michio and Zain followed Waiston into the kitchen. "Waiston…?" Michio asked.

Waiston pulled out a knife from the draw and looked over at Michio. "You knew I wanted one…and you played with my emotions…"

"…Put the knife down, Waiston… ._." Michio said calmly before making the polar bear reappear again.

"It's fake, isn't it…?" Waiston asked.

"Nope," Michio replied. And with that reply, Waiston hopped on the polar bear and began riding it around again. Michio ran outside into the main area, flaiing his arms around. "Hide the knives, hide the knives!"

.

.

The moon's reflection glowed brightly in the water, its own glow illuminating the beach. Only a few stars painted the night sky overhead, giving the peach a blissful and serene feeling. At a cabin near the beach, the girls from Fairy Tail were wrapped up in blue robes with red floral patterns on them, along with a cooler filled with beer. Lucy, Juvia, and Levy were already too far gone after consuming a certain amount of alcohol, and their reactions were freaking those who weren't drunk just yet out a little. "WHY DOES GRAY-SAMA IGNORE JUVIA?!" Juvia cried out, weeping on the floor.

"Well," Cynthia hiccupped after her words. "I THINK IT'S BECAUSE HE'S AFRAID JUVIA-CHAN!" Cynthia spoke, now officially drunk at this point.

"Y-YEAH!" Lucy hiccupped, starting to stand up, but only to fall on her side, giggling with pink colored cheeks.

"WHAT SHOULD JUVIA DO THEN!?" Juvia sat her, her cheeks flushed pink from the alcohol consumption.

"GO FOR IT!" Levy shouted, hiccupping a few times, raising a beer bottle into the air. "TAKE HIM, MAKE HIM YOURS!"

Juvia stood up, a determined look on her face. "JUVIA WILL!" Juvia then took a step forward, and then fell over onto her face. "WAAAH!"

Wendy had swirls in her eyes as she lay on her back on the floor, not even daring to move. "Why is the room spinning…?" Wendy sat up, and to her it felt like the entire world was spinning. "WAAAAAAH!"

"Why are you spinning, Wendy?" Cynthia asked, grinning goofily as she downed another shot of beer. "And why wasn't I allowed this!? This stuff is amazing!"

"RIGHT?" Erza hiccupped, too far gone herself at this point. Erza squinted at Cynthia, somehow mistaking her for a different bluenette. "Jellal!?" Without thinking, the drunken Erza tackle hugged Cynthia to the floor, hugging her tightly. "Jellal, I've missed you so much!"

"Squeezing…" Was the only word Cynthia managed to get out before Erza accidently pushed Cynthia's face into her breasts drunkenly. "MMMPF!"

.

.

The three girls from White Eclipse were in their own cabin, wasted just like the girls form Fairy Tail, perhaps even worse. "Wooo!" Nami held a beer bottle into the air, grinning wildly as she dropped the bottle, causing the bottle the bottle to shatter. "Ooops…"

"Namiii, you dropped the boooottle…." Aira slurred her words slightly, lying on her side as she giggled.

"Pick it uuuuuup," Hanako hiccuped, lying on her back as she threw her arms into the air wildly.

"I can't believe you three…" Taya sighed, her cheeks tinted pink as well as she talked to the wall.

.

.

Maggie poked her head through an open window, spotting the drunken Fairy Tail females sprawled out across the ground, knocked out. "Oi…you can't be serious? The bloom' tossers let the kids drink?" Maggie sighed, shaking her head from side to side.

"Quite a guild, isn't it?" Aiden asked.

"W-What the…?" Maggie turned, almost startled by Aiden's presence. "Where the hell do you come from…!?"

Aiden chuckled lightly before responding. "Oh, my dear Maggie, I'm always around; especially when Cynthia is involved."

"What's the point of having me watch the bloody child if you're just gonna pop in wherever!?" Maggie asked, her voice rising from annoyance.

"Oh, there is a method to my madness, my dear Lava mage," Aiden nodded. "And I do not pop in whenever, I'm fairly certain she still has my scent."

"Tch…" Maggie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"It appears she's fine for now, so there's no need to watch over her," Aiden nodded once again before disappearing into the shadows.

"Creepy…" Maggie thought to herself as she vanished into the surrounding area.


	63. Chapter 63: Relationships of the Past

Lucy found herself in a bad situation. She was barely managing to hold onto a cliff edge that was slowly cracking. She looked down, seeing very long drop waiting for her, causing the celestial blonde to gulp. Her heart was pounding nervously against her chest, jumping up into her throat as she attempted to cry for help, but no sound came out. All she could think of was that she was going to die…the small rock she was grabbing onto broke, and she started to fall. "AAAAAHHH!" Before she fell too far, a hand caught hers. "N-Natsu?" She felt herself pulled up slowly, after about a ten seconds.

"Yeesh…saving you is a real pain in the ass…" Luke said, panting slightly. "Plus, did you put on a few pounds?" Luke chuckled jokingly, lightly punching Lucy's shoulder playfully.

"I didn't ask for your help…" Lucy crossed her arms and huffed, looking away from her rival savior.

"Oh, come on, don't be that way, beautiful," Luke replied, placing two fingers under Lucy's chin, turning her head to his, causing her to blush lightly.

"Hmph…" Lucy puffed her cheeks out, looking over at Luke. "Thanks…" A few minutes of silence passed as the two looked at each other. Without a word, they slowly started leaning in towards each other…their lips almost touched when…

.

.

"WAAH!" Lucy shot awake, sitting up as she panted heavily, looking around. "Oh my god…did I really just dream about…" Lucy groaned, yet she was relieved that she was only dreaming. "Ugh…I need to stop letting him get to me…" Lucy shivered, the thought of her and Luke almost kissing leaving a sick feeling in her stomach. "I need some fresh air…" She nodded to herself, putting on a plain t-shirt, blue shorts, and a pair of pink flip flops. After that, she walked out of her house, quickly glancing at the gold flower Luke got her quite some time ago. She didn't want to throw it out because it was a beautiful flower, and a part of her would feel bad for throwing it out. "Tch…" Lucy shook her head, exiting her apartment, locking the door behind her, and started talking a late night stroll in Magnolia Town. "It's quiet here at night…" Lucy said to herself as she crossed her arms, shivering a little from the cold breeze. "I should've put on a jacket…"

Cynthia slowly trudged through the quiet Magnolia streets, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, sleeveless shirt, and a pair of slippers, rubbing her eyes as she yawned quietly. "Ugh…Stupid insomnia…" Cynthia accidentally bumped into Lucy's stomach, causing her to take a few steps back. "Wah! L-Lucy…?"

"Cynthia?" Lucy blinked a few times. "What are you doing out so late at night…?"

"I couldn't sleep…so I thought a nice walk would help fix that. Wendy is out like a light, so I didn't want to wake her," Cynthia nodded slowly, yawning.

"You look tired to me…" Lucy replied, crossing her arms as she raised a brow.

"I just can't sleep…" Cynthia sighed, taking a seat on the stone railing.

"You too, huh? At least you didn't have a nightmare…" Lucy asked, taking a seat next to Cynthia.

"You had one…?" Cynthia looked up at Lucy while furrowing her brows.

"Ugh…it was awful…Luke and I almost kissed…" Lucy groaned just at the thought of it.

"Oh, stop acting like you hate him already!" Cynthia objected, smirking slightly. "I can tell you two obviously still care for each other!"

"We don't!" Lucy protested, frowning. "I don't like him, and he doesn't like me!"

"Nope, he clearly still cares for you," Cynthia replied. "He just acts like he doesn't to throw people off! Speaking off…how did you two meet again…?"

"You asked me this before…" Lucy sighed, looking down at her feet before looking up at Cynthia. "I'll tell you, since I need to get this nightmare off my chest…It started a few months ago…May, I think…"

{Flashback}

In a bright midafternoon in Magnolia Town, Lucy was peacefully walking through the town, having just returned from a solo mission. "Hey everyone, I'm back!" Lucy said with a cheerful grin.

"Hello, strange person I've never met," A brown haired male responded who was walking in Lucy's direction.

"Oh, hello!" Lucy gave a sweet smile towards the stranger. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia; who are you?" She asked.

"Oh, name's Luke Cloud," Luke nodded slowly. "Lucy Heartfilia…that name rings a faint bell…" Luke shrugged, and then gave the female a small smile.

"It does?" Lucy blinked a few times, and then shrugged it off. "I am from Fairy Tail, so maybe you've heard my name?"

Luke stayed silent for a few seconds before it hit him. "Oooh, you're THAT Lucy…"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, a little hesitant now due to Luke's sudden change in behavior. "What do you mean THAT Lucy…Who are you…?"

"Oh, you know, just your average mage from the strongest guild in Fiore, White Eclipse," Luke said rather prideful, showing off the White Eclipse guild mark on his right hand.

Luke's confession caused Lucy's heart to pump even faster as she took a step back. "I-I've heard of you guys…"

"Oh? Have you now?" Luke flashed a smirk. "Good, because we'll be taking Fiore by storm soon," Luke turned his back towards Lucy. "If we meet again, don't expect to get off so easy," Luke then walked off, leaving Lucy shaking slightly in her boots.

{End Flashback}

"Wow…" Cynthia was surprised at Lucy's story. "Was he really like that? He's so nice!"

"You would think so…" Lucy sighed.

"What happened then…?" Cynthia asked, looking up at Lucy. "You fought, right?"

Lucy nodded slowly. "He beat me…badly…" Lucy sighed. "But it's what happened after…"

{Flashback}

Lucy was wrapped in bandages after her loss to Luke, unable to find a comfortable position in the darkness of her room on her bed due to all the cuts and burns she received during the fight. She heard a knock at her window, so she slowly got up and opened it, and there stood Luke. "L-Luke…?" Lucy took a step back.

"H-Hey…" Luke replied with a solemn tone. "Can I come in…?" Lucy stood there for a few seconds before nodding slowly, and Luke hopped inside, unable to look Lucy in the face, obviously feeling bad for hurting her earlier.

"What are you doing here, Luke?" Lucy asked, looking at the mage.

"I came here to say sorry…" Luke replied, slowly lifting his head up to look at Lucy.

Lucy stayed silent for a few minutes before she lifted up her shirt, revealing a large burn mark on her side. "It hurts, Luke…" Lucy mumbled.

"I-I know…I'm sorry…" Luke replied, looking down at the floor again. "I just…I feel bad about earlier…"

"Do you really…?" Lucy asked, lowering her shirt.

"Yes…I just wanted to tell you that…" Luke replied. "I understand if you don't forgive me…" Luke turned around, starting to leave via the window.

"Luke…" Lucy started. "I forgive you…"

Luke turned around, caught off guard by Lucy's words. "Y-You do…?"

Lucy nodded, "I do…" Luke smiled slightly before hopping out of the window and down to the streets above, starting to walk off, but Lucy stuck her head out the window. "Luke!"

"Huh…?" Luke turned around.

"I can tell you'd be a great person to be friends with…" Lucy gave a sweet smile as she went back inside.

{End flashback}

"DAWWW!" Cynthia grinned stupidly. "That's so cute…! What happened next?"

"Well…since things between our two guilds were tense…I realized I wanted to be friends with him, so I did the only thing I could. I went up to White Eclipse, and I challenged him to another fight. Of course…I lost again…but we were able to be friends after that," Lucy smiled faintly at the memory, and then frowned realizing it was all in the past.

"Oh…" Cynthia replied. "But wait…why does he act like he hates you!?"

Lucy cringed internally, knowing this was coming. "That…oh…well…You see…he asked me on a date…and I accepted."

"DAAWWWW," Cynthia grinned goofily.

"Yeah…" Lucy rubbed the back of her head and sighed. "And then Natsu showed up…and it became a real mess…and I picked Natsu over Luke…and it broke his heart…"

"…..Oh…." Cynthia had no response for that, but she sighed. "And…that lead into round three…?"

Lucy nodded slowly. "Yeah, kinda…we made up after that, and White Eclipse went quiet for a while, but Luke was the only one around, and he got along with everyone he talked to in Fairy Tail. But then White Eclipse came back, and he fought me again…and of course…he beat me…again…" Lucy let out a sigh. "The third round was humiliating too…he beat me so easily…"

Cynthia placed a hand on Lucy's leg, shaking her head slowly. "I'm sure you'll beat him, and I know he still cares for you…I think so…at least…er…" Cynthia stood up, rubbing the back of her head as she yawned. "That story made me tired…"

"Would you like to spend the night with me?" Lucy asked, standing up.

"I don't wanna worry Wendy though…" Cynthia frowned slightly.

"I'll let her know in the morning, C'mon!" Lucy nodded.

"Alright," Cynthia nodded, following behind Lucy.

"She's optimistic; I'll give her that…" Lucy thought to herself.


	64. Chapter 64: Beginning of the End

"Today's the day!" Wendy jumped out of bed, grinning widely. Today was August 31st, also known as Wendy Marvell's thirteen birthday. Wendy looked around the room, but she didn't see any sign of Cynthia or Carla. "I wonder where they are…" Wendy pondered this thought over for a few seconds before deciding to freshen up, wanting to look special for this day. Wendy walked into the bathroom, spending a good 45 minutes in there. When she came out, she was quite pleased with her appearance. Wendy's long dark blue hair had curls to it, still flowing down to her waist. She decided to wear a long sleeve white shirt with a pink floral pattern across, blue pants with no particular pattern, and blue boots. "I have a feeling this day is going to be great!" Wendy grinned, looking around the building of Fairy Hills for everyone, but she was unable to find anyone. No Evergreen, Levy, Erza, Juvia, Levy, Laki, no one. "Why is it so empty…?" Wendy placed a finger on her chin before it hit her. "Ah-ha!" Wendy rushed out of Fairy Hills, and made her way towards Fairy Tail. When Wendy reached the front doors to Fairy Tail, she placed her hands on the handle and opened the door slowly, only for Cynthia to rush out of the doors. Cynthia was in her standard outfit, a sleeveless green shirt, black pants and shoes.

"Wendy!" Cynthia grinned, hugging her friend tightly.

"C-Cynthia!" Wendy smiled from the surprise hug, hugging Cynthia back just as tightly.

"Happy birthday!" Cynthia's grin grew wider as she pulled away from the hug, facing Wendy.

"Thank you!" Wendy grinned, and then attempted to look past Cynthia into the guild, but Cynthia was blocking her vision. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, well, it's early, so they're all still sleeping!" Cynthia nodded.

"…It's 11:45," Wendy replied.

"…That's early in my book! C'mon, I have to show you something anyway!" Cynthia grabbed Wendy by the arm and dragged her away.

Lucy poked her head through the door after hearing Wendy and Cynthia leave. She then closed the door, turning around to her fellow guild mates. "Alright, Wendy's occupied! Let's finish decorating this place!"

"AYE!" The guild responded as they started to place streamers and banners all over the guild.

"Hopefully Cynthia can distract Wendy long enough for her curiosity not to peek," Carla said, spreading her wings as she hung up part of the large banner on the ceiling.

"We'll be fine as long as he have everything ready with the next half hour," Erza nodded. "That's how long Cynthia said she would be able to distract Wendy."

Natsu and Gray were blowing up balloons, both getting slightly exhausted. "Oh man…this is kinda tough…" Natsu groaned, panting heavily as he stopped to catch his breath.

"Pssh, this is nothing…!" Gray said a bit competitively, smirking over at Natsu. "I have one more balloon blown up than you."

"Oh yeah?!" Natsu quickly regained his breath, and then started to blow another balloon up, attempting to beat Gray at making the most balloons.

"Those two can turn anything into a competition…" Mirajane gave a small laugh as she and Lisanna started working on the birthday cake.

"Buncha idiots…" Gajeel commented, actually helping the gild setting up along with Evergreen, Levy, Elfman, and Bickslow.

"Aw, don't be like that," Levy said with a cute smile.

"Come on, we don't have time to be fooling around!" Erza stated. "We have to be quick about this so we have enough time to surprise her later!"

.

.

Cynthia dragged Wendy into the heart of Magnolia town, right in front of the big tree. Both girls were panting since they were running, but Wendy put more effort in catching up to Cynthia than Cynthia did in running. "W-Why are we here?" Wendy asked through a few short breaths.

"Because, I wanted to give you something," Cynthia nodded slowly. "I remember…when we first met…you were so eager to show me around and all…I feel kinda bad for being so reluctant about it before…"

"You don't have to feel bad, Cynthia," Wendy said with a reassuring smile. "I didn't understand it at first, but I still just wanted you to feel comfortable. Now that I understand what you went through, you don't have to feel bad."

Cynthia shook her head slowly, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Heh…yeah…I did feel comfortable around you. I was a little scared at first because you were a stranger, but I could tell you were a really sweet girl, so I trusted myself to trust you, and I can say that was one of the best decisions I've been able to make in my life since I escaped…"

Wendy blushed slightly from Cytnhia's words, her smile growing. "Cynthia…"

"Oh!" Cynthia reached into her back pocket, pulling out a small rectangular shaped box. "I made this for you, for your birthday."

Wendy took the box, opening it up slowly, her eyes widening when she saw what it was. Inside the box was a small pendant with the words "Friends Forever" on it. "Y-You made this…?"

"Mhm…" Cynthia nodded. "Do you like it…?"

Wendy closed the box, and then threw her arms around Cynthia, hugging her tightly. "I love it…! Thank you!"

Cynthia returned the tight hug, embracing Wendy in her arms. "You're welcome…" Cynthia closed her eyes, enjoying the hug for as long as it lasted. After a few minutes, Cynthia opened her eyes, looking up at the nearest clock. "Oh boy!" Cynthia pulled away from the hug. "We have to get going!"

"Where to!?" Wendy asked, looking around.

"Follow me!" Cynthia grabbed Wendy's arm once again, and proceeded to drag her back to Fairy Tail, stopping once they got to the front doors. "I hope they're ready…" Cynthia mumbled to herself; she then turned to Wendy. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Wendy asked, tilting her head slowly.

"You'll see!" Cynthia opened the door, pushing Wendy inside the guild.

"Uh…it's dark in here…" Wendy cautiously took a step forward into the darkness of the guild. A few seconds later, the lights popped on, and everyone jumped out.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WENDY!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"M-Minna!" Wendy couldn't help the large grin appear over her face as everyone said happy birthday. "You did all this for me!?" Wendy looked around the large guild hall, especially at the multitude of balloons and banners.

"That's right!" Lucy grinned.

"We wanted you to have the best birthday ever!" Natsu replied, putting his arm around Lucy in a friendly manner. "Lucy and Erza did most of the planning, the rest of us just kinda helped!"

"Still, thank you!" Wendy grinned, going off afterwards to enjoy the celebration.

"I've never seen her smile that big before," Cynthia said. "I like it!"

"She's officially a teenager now," Freed said with a slight smile on his face. "Funny how everyone here grows up and changes so fast, huh?"

"I know what you mean," Laxus nodded slowly at Freed's words.

"Doesn't matter how old you brats get," Makarov nodded, sipping from his mug of beer, "You're all still my children."

"We're never gonna get older than you, old man," Laxus smirked slightly.

"What's a party without beer, right?" Cana grinned, her cheeks pink from the amount of alcohol she's consumed, not even paying attention to what the party was even about.

"And there goes Cana…" Gray sighed, now shirtless with Juvia fawning over him from the sidelines.

"The cake is ready!" Mirajane walked forward with a large cake with thirteen candles, all for Wendy. She set the cake on the nearest table, giggling slightly as Wendy went up to the cake, eying the candles.

"Those flames look good…" Cynthia said subconsciously.

"Blow the candles out and make a wish!" Lisanna said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Hai," Wendy nodded, and then took a deep breath, making sure not to accidentally use her Sky Dragon's Roar as she blew out all thirteen candles; the guild members present clapping after.

"What did you wish for?" Erza asked, eying the strawberries on the outer edges of the cake.

"If I tell you, it won't come true!" Wendy nodded.

"Allow me," Freed said, pulling out his sword. In a few simple slices, he cut the cake into slices equal for everyone to have a fair share, but he let Wendy have the largest piece, since it was her birthday.

"Arigato, Freed-san!" Wendy grinned, and then proceeded to take a bite out of the cake. "Mmm, this is good!"

"This cake is greaaaat!" The sugar from the cake already got into Cynthia's system, and she started bouncing off the walls…literally.

"H-Hey, calm down…!" Elfman shouted, getting dizzy as he attempted to follow Cynthia with his eyes, but failed horribly. "This isn't manly!"

The guild laughed for a few minutes before the doors to the guild slowly opened, causing everyone to turn. At the door, several mages stood; Aloysius, Maggie, the Deadly Blade, Byron, a female with a hood over her head, concealing her face, a male with short black hair, a scarf just under his mouth, black leather gloves, a black coat, black pants and boots, and a female with long black hair, a single bang over her forehead, blue eyes, and wore a kimono walked into the guild. "Is this the place?" Aloysius asked, looking around.

"I've seen that girl walk in her quite a few times now," Maggie replied. "Kiora, is she in here?" Maggie turned her attention to the black haired female, whose eye turned a radiant blue for a second before she nodded.

"Yes, she's in here," Kiora nodded slowly.

"Can we help you?" Makarov asked the six mages who so rudely walked into his guild.

"Yes you can," Aloysius replied, grinning devilishly. "We're here for Cynthia."

Cynthia froze, the sugar rush her body was experiencing ending instantly from Aloysius' tone. "W-What…?"

Wendy stood in front of Cynthia protectively, spreading her arms out. "You're not taking Cynthia."

"Oh, that's cute…" Byron grinned, shaking his head. "You thought we were asking."

"I'm giving you one warning," Makarov said, his eyes glowing yellow. "Leave my guild, and my children alone, otherwise it won't end for you."

"Oh, that even cuter!" Byron grinned.

"Get outta here you bastards!" Natsu charged forward with a flaming fist, aiming it at Aloysius. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw his fist forward, but Byron stepped in the way, a shield looking similar to Dan Straight's Ricochet in his hands. Natsu hit the shield, scowling slightly that Byron blocked the attack. What happened next caught Natsu off guard, the shield shot out the very same force he used to attack back at him, blowing him into the wall.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, flying over to Natsu.

"You've just made a very big mistake…" Erza scowled at the six mages standing at the door way, and then jumped into the air. "Kanso!" Erza changed into her Heaven's Wheel armor, manifesting a multitude of swords in front of her. Erza pointed her hands forward, sending the swords forward.

"Oh, I got this!" The female with the hood over her face said with a cheery, yet taunting voice. She held her hand out, a telekinetic force stopping the swords just before they made contact with the group of six.

"Telekinesis?" Erza said with widened eyes.

"Don't tell me you forgot who I was already!" The female took her hood off, and it was an all too familiar blonde; Veronica. "I joined Silent Sanctum, and I must say it's been a lot better than those other crappy dark guilds!" Veronica flicked her wrist forward, turning the swords around and sent them towards the guild members.

"GET DOWN!" Makarov shouted as the swords impaled through the walls, all the guild members ducking low as the swords flew over them.

"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" Gajeel jumped forward towards the male with short black hair, throwing his arm coated in iron scales forward.

"Riot Horn…" The male said quietly. A light brown magic circle appeared and a sharp stalagmite appeared from the ground, slamming into Gajeel as it forced him back and through several tables.

"Gajeel!" Levy shouted, taking her eyes off the mages. A bad idea as Aloysius snapped his fingers, causing large magic circles to appear around most of everyone in the guild, stopping them in their tracks. "W-What is this!?"

"Rapture…" Aloysius grinned sadistically as he snapped his fingers, causing the magical power in every mage in Fairy Tail to explode, causing loud shrieks of pain.

"Oh, I love the screams of pain in the morning!" Byron grinned.

"You blokes are stealing all the fun!" Maggie groaned before walking forward in front of Aloysius. "Let the female have some fun, eh, loves?"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu jumped up immediately, unleashing a funnel of fire that consumed Maggie's entire body. "HA! I got you!" As Natsu's attack subsided, Maggie was simply playing with her white hair, Natsu's attack having no effect. "W-What!?"

"Oh, were you attacking me, love?" Maggie asked, a sly smirk appearing over her lips. "I think you do it like this…" Maggie started to inhale, gathering a large volume of ash in her mouth.

"ENOUGH!" Makarov used his Titan magic to turn his arm into a giant fist, and then hurled it at Maggie, but Bryon jumped in once again with his shield out, reflecting the force of Makarov's punch back at the Wizard Saint, sending the Fairy Tail master through the nearby wall.

"Master!" Cynthia shouted.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray placed his palm into his fist, and then threw his arms forward as multiple ice lances shot from the magic circle that formed.

"Shadow Make: Lance," Kiora mimicked Gray's action, only she managed to fire off more than enough lances to overpower Gray's, hit Gray, and a few stray members of the guild, knocking them all back.

"This is annoying!" Natsu growled, wiping the corner of his mouth.

"These guys are giving me a headache…" Laxus scowled, throwing off his jacket as sparks started to dance over his body, showing he was ready to get serious. "I'll handle this…" Laxus' body morphed into a lightning bolt, then he started to move forward, but his progress was halted, Veronica used her telekinesis to stop Laxus from moving. "W-What!?" Laxus was clearly caught off guard by this, but he didn't have any time to respond as Veronica hurled him into the wall.

"Laxus-san…!" Wendy looked over at Laxus, and all the injured guild members.

"Gajeel! Wendy!" Natsu shouted, entering his lightning flame mode.

"Heh, I see where this is going, Salamander," Gajeel grinned, his iron scales covering his body as he entered his Iron Shadow mode.

"Me too!" Wendy nodded as she entered her Omega Flame Sky mode.

"Roar…" Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy took deep breathes as their elements started to form in a vortex around their mouths.

"Of the Lightning Flame Dragon!"

"Of the Iron Shadow Dragon!"

"Of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" The three dual dragons unleashed their roars, the three double roars immediately forming into a powerful unison raid that raced towards the six mages.

"You just don't learn, do you!?" Byron smirked, standing in front of the five mages, pointing his shield out; the shield absorbed the triple roar, much to the Dragon Slayer's surprise, and then spat it back out, completely obliterating most of the Fairy Tail building, and more than half of Magnolia town, also creating a massive smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, nearly all the Fairy Tail members were heavily damaged, but they stood up.

"You're not…taking Cynthia…" Natsu said, wiping the side of his mouth slowly.

"Mira-nee, are you okay?" Lisanna asked, struggling to get up.

"I-I'm fine…" Mira was holding her arm, but she didn't want Lisanna to worry.

Cynthia coughed; oddly the least injured out of the Fairy Tail members. "Guys…"

"Lighting Dragon's Roar!" Laxus unleashed a beam of electricity from his mouth towards the group of six.

"Whoa, you guys are idiots!" Byron yet again reflected the attack, but this only caused Laxus to smirk. "Rajinshu!"

"Dark Ecriture: Reflect!" Freed swung his sword, creating purple characters that caused the Lighting Dragon's roar to reflect back at the group of six.

"Babies!" Bickslow jumped into the air, his dolls forming into a circular motion, sending off a giant green laser.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Evergreen also jumped into the air, swinging her fan, sending multiple bullets towards the group of six.

"Wow…" Byron sighed at the Fairies stupidity.

"Allow me…" Veronica walked forward towards the incoming attacks with a sly grin. "Wall!" Veronica spread her hands apart, creating a telekinetic wall that deflected the attacks off to the side.

"What's with these guys!?" Lucy shouted, unable to do much because her lower body was buried underneath some rubble.

"Are we done playing around?" The male with the short black hair asked, pulling his scarf up to his mouth.

"Yes, we're done playing around; we have to get Cynthia back to Aiden," Kiora replied.

Cynthia's eyes widened as she took a step back. "A-Aiden….!? But that's…!"

"He's the one who hired us," Byron said with a smirk.

"I've been watching you for quite some time," Maggie smirked slyly at Cynthia. "In fact, I'm the reason you and your little bluenette friend escaped from that handsome council chap a few weeks ago."

"T-That ash was you…!?" Cynthia gasped, and then looked down at Wendy, who was struggling to get up.

"That's right," Maggie walked forward, but this only caused Cynthia to step back.

"You're not taking her away…" Wendy said as she stood up, almost falling back over. "I won't let you…"

"You don't have a choice in the matter," Veronica giggled before using her telekinesis to pick Cynthia up, and pull her over to the group of six.

"No you don't!" Roemo attempted to attack Aloysius with purple fire, but Aloysius easily smacked the young fire wizard away.

"Oh now that's just cruel," Bryon snickered.

"Tobias," Aloysius said as he turned around to exit, referring to the male with the short black hair. "Finish them off; we have no use for them."

"W-Wendy, help!" Cynthia screamed, unable to do anything about her current captivity as five of the mages walked off.

"How droll…" Tobias rolled his eyes.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY CHILDEN?!" Makarov's body started to glow as he began his titan transformation, utterly enraged.

"Ground Dasher," A brown magic circle appeared under the Wizard Saint, sending large stalagmites shooting up towards him, causing the Wizard saint to fall to the ground, his legs heavily injured.

"Gramps!" Natsu growled, his flames heating up what was left of the building. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT YOU ASS HOLE!" Natsu threw a flaming fist at Tobias, but Tobias easily dodged, then grabbed Natsu's hand, smirking.

"Am I?" Tobias, in a fluid motion, bent Natsu's hand, snapping his wrist. Natsu's eyes widened as the sudden pain jolted through his entire body, causing him to let out a scream of pain.

"NATSU!" Lucy shouted, attempting to dig her way out of the rubble.

"I'm done with you people…" Tobias threw Natsu to the side, and then walked outside. "O' particles that wander the heavens, led me your power and glorify this land…" An orange magic circle appeared right above Fairy Tail. "Meteor Storm." Tobias walked off as the magic circle unleashed multiple, destructive meteors, the ground shaking and cracking as the meteors struck the Fairy Tail building, engulfing Fairy Tail in a grand explosion.


	65. Chapter 65: Fiore's End Begins

Meteors rained down the remains of the Fairy Tail guild, engulfing the famous guild in a grab explosion. When the explosion subsided, a very large cloud of smoke floated into the air, slowly dispersing. When the smoke subsided, Erza was in her Adamantine armor, but even the mighty defensive armor was unable to withstand Tobias' powerful meteor storm, and it shattered, causing Erza to fall to the ground, near lifeless. Gray had also put up a large Ice Make Shield, but just like Erza's powerful defensive armor, it too gave way to the falling meteors. Thanks to the defensive efforts for Gray and Erza, no one in Fairy Tail died, but everyone was indeed fatally injured, and required medical attention very soon, otherwise people would start dying. "C….Cynthia…" Wendy looked up with blurred vision, only to succumb to her injuries and passed out along with everyone else.

.

.

"L-LET ME GO! I WANT TO GO BACK TO FAIRY TAIL!" Cynthia screamed out while still being carried by Veronica's telekinesis.

"Yeesh…she's a loud one…" Maggie said, rubbing her ears.

"Oh, I don't think you want to go back to Fairy Tail," Tobias said with a sly smirk.

"W-What did you do…?!" Cynthia's eyes widened at Tobias' smirk.

"Heh…you'll see…or maybe you won't," Tobias replied.

"Tobias, stop being so damn prideful," Kiora replied. "Nobody cares, anyone else here could've easily done what you did."

"You people just can't let me have anything, can you?" Tobias groaned.

"When the hell did it become "Tobias can talk" day?" Maggie asked.

"I…" Tobias had no words, he just groaned.

"HA!" Byron laughed, feeling no sympathy for Tobias. "That's gotta suck for you!"

"Byron, be quiet," Aloysius said.

"Yes, Aloy," Byron shifted his gaze in front of him.

After an undisclosed amount of time, the group of six, and the prisoner, Cynthia, entered a large tower somewhere in a mountainous region. Veronica hurled Cynthia to the ground, dusting her hands off after. "Bleh…"

"I'm going HOME!" Cynthia's body erupted in dark red flames as she glared at the six mages.

"Oh…but why would you want to leave so soon, you just got here…" Aiden replied from behind Cynthia. The voice sent an immediate chill up Cynthia's spine, and she turned around slowly.

"Y-You…!" Cynthia's flames increased subconsciously, mostly because she was afraid.

"Yes, that's right," Aiden smirked slightly. "It's your father."

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL YOURSELF THAT!" Cynthia puffed her cheeks out, and immediately unleashed an Omega Fire Dragon's roar towards Aiden. But…she missed…no one intervened; the attack went over to Aiden's side and hit the wall, causing an explosion. "W-What…!?"

"Oh…wow…My little girl has grown up so strong…I'm proud…" Aiden's smirk grew wider.

"What the hell just happened…?" Byron raised a brow. "I'm pretty sure that attack was supposed to hit…"

"What kinda crazy magic are you running, you bloody nutter?" Maggie asked, crossing her arms.

"I don't have any magic," Aiden replied with an honest voice.

"TAKE ME HOME!" Cynthia formed two balls of red fire in both of her fist, jumping up after, fusing the two spheres into a large dark red one. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia hurled the Blaze down at Aiden…but the blaze flew behind Aiden, not even the explosion affected him. He just stood there with his arms behind his back. "W-What…!?"

"Well this is interesting…" Kiora tilted her head slowly.

"What the hell is going on?" Tobias asked.

"Hm…" Aloysius brought his hand up to his face, stroking his chin slowly as he watched Cynthia's futile attempts to attack her Father.

"Why can't I hit you!?" Cynthia changed her moves up, red fire forming over her fist as she rushed Aiden, throwing multiple punches towards his chest…but her fist missed, none of her hits were making contact. "RAH!" Cynthia then threw a no magic punch at Aiden's face, but it was as if her body was on autopilot, and her fist shifted to the side of his face, missing once again.

"You don't get it, do you?" Aiden chuckled, signaling for Veronica to grab Cynthia once again, which she did, restraining the girl. "I knew what I was dealing with when I used you as a test subject, and when I was creating that Omega Fire Dragon lacrima. However, I made a few modifications to this lacrima…"

"Modifications…?" Cynthia attempted to break free from Veronica's telekinetic grasp, but she was unable to do so this time around.

"I took the factor in that you would most likely grow tired of all of this and escape and I also took in the factor you would attack anyone and everything that got in your way. So, I made this lacrima with a special restriction just for that," Aiden leaned in closer until he was face to face with Cynthia, a devilish grin appearing over his face. "No matter what you do, or how hard you try, you will never be able to attack, or hurt me."

"Heh, I like this guy's style…" Byron grinned. "Say, where's everyone else? You know Horoki, and the other members of Tartaros?"

"Oh, don't worry about them," Aiden replied. "They're in the tower, I just had them spread out because I know we'll be having guest…oh! I almost forgot. Veronica, come with me, bring Cynthia too. It's time for the announcement..."

.

.

Chelia and Jura walked into Magnolia thrown, surprised by the destruction of more than half the town. "W-WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" Chelia's eyes widened at the sight of the demolished Fairy Tail. "W-Wendy?! Cynthia?!" Chelia rushed into the rubble, immediately throwing the large debris away in search of bodies.

"Chelia-dono, over here…!" Jura pointed to the near lifeless bodies of the Fairy Tail members, more than half of them buried under rubble.

"What happened here…!?" Chelia didn't waste any time in utilizing her Sky God Slayer magic, healing Natsu, Gray, and Erza first to the best of her ability. After a few minutes, Natsu, Gray, and Erza slowly came up, jumping up.

"W-Where did they go!?" Natsu said in a low, dark tone.

"Calm down, Natsu-dono!" Jura shouted. "You mustn't move too much yet…Chelia-dono just healed you…"

"J-Jura…?" Erza blinked, picking herself up off the ground slowly as she looked at Chelia starting to heal the other near lifeless mages, bringing them back from the brink of death.

"What are you doing here…?" Gray asked, wincing from his former injuries.

"Chelia-dono and I heard it was Wendy-dono's birthday, so we decided to pay a visit…but when we came…we saw this…"

"W-Wendy…!" Chelia picked up Wendy, healing her as best she could. "W-What happened…!?"

"C-Chelia-san…" Wendy woke up slowly, recognizing Chelia's voice. "W-Where's Carla…and Cynthia!?"

"I don't see Cynthia around here…" Chelia frowned. "Where is she…?"

"T-They took her!" Wendy pushed herself from Chelia's arms and stood up, wobbling a little.

"W-Wendy…!" Carla cried out. "D-Don't…it's too dangerous…"

"I have to…save Cynthia…" Wendy closed one eye, taking another step forward, but Erza stood in her way. "E-Erza-san…"

"Wendy…we don't even know where they took her…" Erza frowned. Erza wanted to save Cynthia too, everyone in Fairy Tail did, but it was useless to try and find her without any clues. Wendy knew this was true too, so she decided to take her mind off it temporarily by helping Chelia heal the other Fairy Tail members. After about thirty minutes, the two fell onto their knees, panting heavily.

"T-That's everyone…" Chelia panted.

"Great, now let's get those assholes back for taking Cynthia, hurting gramps, and destroying Fairy Tail!" Natsu pounded his fist into an open palm, glaring deeply into the horizon.

"Natsu…" Makarov said rather weakly, his legs wrapped in bandages. "I understand you want revenge, but we can't do anything yet…"

"But, Gramps!" Natsu protested. "Look what that guy did to you! You can't even walk straight!"

"He'll be fine in a matter of hours…" Chelia nodded slowly, starting to catch her breath.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" A voice said from pure shock. The voice called all the members conscious to turn around. At what used to be the entrance to Fairy Tail stood head captains Lahar, Doranbolt, Correl, Odin, and Aloy.

"It's THEM…" Wendy's eyes widened at the Council members present.

"Council captains?" Jura raised an eyebrow, taking a step back as the members walked inside.

"We came for Cynthia," Lahar stated, looking around the demolished guild for the girl.

"She's not here…" Natsu replied crossing his arms. Before Natsu could react, Correll pinned the Salamander onto the ground with his knee pressing into his stomach.

"Failure to cooperate; that's one strike," Correll smirked at Natsu.

"G-Get off him!" Lucy cried out.

"SHE'S NOT HERE DAMMIT!" Natsu's body erupted in flames; the sudden burn caused Correll to jump back.

"Attacking an officer, that's two…" Correll said, acting as though the burn on his knee wasn't hurting him at all.

"We're not lying!" Lucy objected.

"Then where is the girl…?" Lahar asked, looking around, thinking Fairy Tail was hiding her elsewhere.

Natsu's attention turned to Head Captain Aloy, quickly mistaking him for Aloysius. "YOU TOOK HER YOU BASTARD!" Natsu charged at Aloy, but he was held back by Laxus. "LAXUS, THAT'S HIM!"

"Natsu, calm down!" Laxus barked.

"I'm sorry, did something happen?" Aloy looked curelessly over to the Fairy Tail mages glaring at him, "What…?"

"You were here not too long ago, right?" Mirajane asked, a magic circle appearing over her body.

"I was not…" Aloy replied. "I don't know what happened here…"

"THAT'S A LIE!" Wendy screamed out suddenly, catching everyone off guard. "YOU WERE ONE OF THE ONES WHO TOOK CYNTHIA!" Tears started to form in Wendy's eyes, now worried to death about her friend.

"W-Wendy…?" Doranbolt was especially taken aback by the little girl's screaming.

"That's impossible," Odin replied calmly. "Aloy was with US while we drove here."

"W-What…?" Gajeel's eyes widened. He then used his nose to sniff Aloy from afar. The scent was similar to Aloysius', but it wasn't the same. "Damn…guys, he's right…"

"W-What…?" Wendy looked over at Gajeel. "B-But…!"

"Enough talking, we've come for Cynthia Viscard," Lahar shook his head. "Where is she?"

"I don't believe she's here…" Jura stated. "I didn't see anything when Chelia-dono and I came here to help Fairy Tail out."

"Lying to a Council member, are we, Wizard saint?" Correll asked, raising a brow as he pulled out magic sealing cuffs.

"J-Jura would never lie!" Chelia objected, standing in front of the wizard saint protectively.

"There's a first time for everything, doll face," Correll replied, taking a step forward.

"We're in no condition to fight them…" Levy whispered.

"Doesn't mean I won't try!" Natsu shouted. Suddenly, a large lacrima screen filled the sky. "Huh…?" Natsu and everyone else's attention turned to the screen.

"Attention, all of Fiore!" Aiden's full body appeared on the screen. Aiden seemed to be in some sort of lab.

"W-Who is that…?!" Lisanna shouted.

"Viscard…Aiden…" Odin scowled. "He's been hiding well…"

"Viscard…" Wendy blinked a few times, wiping the incoming tears from her eyes. "Viscard is Cynthia's last…" Then it hit her. "No…!"

"I would like to present the beginning of my grand project, seven years in the making!" Aiden smirked widely, throwing his hand off to the side. From Aiden's left, a small wall rotated around, revealing Cynthia, who was strapped down by fire resistant iron bars.

"C-CYNTHIA!" Wendy's eyes widened as she brought her hands to her mouth, gasping.

"W-What!?" Lahar now felt bad for accusing Fairy Tail for hiding Cynthia, but that wasn't the case at this point.

"Cynthia Viscard, my precious daughter. Also known as the Omega Fire Dragon Slayer…or, as I like to call her; Fiore's End."

"L-LET ME GO!" Cynthia's voice was someone weak and frightened. "I-I don't want to do this!"

"That's cute…she thinks she has a choice…" Aiden shook his head slowly before looking at the screen. "I have to say, Fairy Tail did a great job in turning Cynthia into the strong girl she is right now. I couldn't have brought out her full potential without your help, and for that, I thank you."

"THAT SCHEMING LITTLE-" Erza glared at Aiden, only to realize he wasn't able to see it.

"But, I especially have to thank the mages from Tartaros and Silent Sanctum for bringing her back to me. Because I'm a nice guy, Fairy Tail, I'll cut you a deal. If you REALLY think you can stop Fiore's End and "save" Cynthia, come to the mountains in the center of Fiore. We'll be waiting…OH! And the Magic Council. I know you're watching this too. Don't even think about trying to come in their place, if they even show up. I've run a check over all your members in the last seven years, so your tricks won't work on me. If a member of the Magic Council shows…Fiore's End will be swift…"

"W-Wendy…help me…" Cynthia whimpered before the lacrima cut off.

"Silent Sanctum…Tartaros…" Makarov went over these names in his head.

"I'm going…" Wendy said. "I have to save Cynthia…"

"You're not going alone…" Erza placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder.

"Tch, clever bastard thinks he's got us…" Correll, Lahar, Doranbolt, Aloy, and Odin walked away from Fairy Tail's remains.

"There needs to be a team…" Laxus nodded slowly, and then looked over at Makarov for approval.

"Tartaros is a dangerous guild…too dangerous for you all…" Makarov said sternly. "But…I cannot allow any child of mine to be abused like that…"

"So you're letting us go…?!" Natsu asked hopefully.

"Yes…Erza…pick who will go…" Makarov turned to Erza, leaving the faith of this mission in her selection.

"I know who I'll take, Master," Erza nodded before facing the Fairy Tail members, all of them conscious now. "Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Cana, Juvia, Gray, Laxus, Mirajane, Elfman, Wendy, Carla, Warren, we'll need you for communications, and Gajeel and Patherlily."

"Aye, Sir!" Happy grinned floating above Natsu.

"Giehe…Good, I was hoping I'd get a chance to pay those fuckers back for what they did," Gajeel stepped forward as Lily stood by his feet.

"I'll do my best to keep you all connected," Warren nodded.

"Me, huh…? Alright," Cana nodded, giving a smirk. "I'll do my best."

"The mountains, right? In the center or Fiore?" Laxus asked.

"That's right," Erza nodded, leading the way.

"Be safe, Laxus!" Freed shouted.

"Teach that Aiden guy a lesson!" Bickslow shouted.

"We'll do that, beat Tartaros and Silent Sanctum, AND save Cynthia!" Natsu grinned as he and the selected group walked off, throwing up the Fairy Tail hand sign.

.

.

"Tch, what do we do now?" Correll asked, looking over at the other Council captains.

"We're going to make things worse by going," Odin replied, sighing. "We cannot take that risk, and I'm sure Fairy Tail is walking into a giant trap…"

"Fiore's End seems well thought out…" Lahar sighed, agitated.

"No Magic Council…" Doranbolt pondered for a minute before a thought came to him. "We might have to send…him…"

"You mean…?!" Lahar shouted.

"Doranbolt nodded.

.

.

In the prison of the Magic Council, a male was sitting cross legged in a cell, a scar over one of his eyes, and the other closed. His long elf like ears perked up when he heard something. The male leaned back, opening his eye with a sly smirk, looking up. "I can hear you…"


	66. Chapter 66: Fiore's End Begins Part 2

"R-Reve, look outside!" Luke shouted, standing outside along with the rest of White Eclipse, pointing towards the lacrima screen.

"What is it…?" Reve walked outside, catching the tail end of Aiden's speech, his eyes widening somewhat after the speech was over. "I knew something was off about that girl…!"

"What are we going to do?" Aira asked, looking over at Reve.

"Wait, what?" Reve looked over at Aira, raising a brow. "What do you mean what are we going to do? This isn't our problem."

"Uh...I think when something is named, Fiore's End, I think it's a big problem," Cygnus replied.

"He's bluffing," Reve stated. "I know that girl is strong enough to injure Sidney, but there's no way in hell she can bring about Fiore's end."

"He said TARTAROS," Luke flailed his arms. The mention of Tartaros caused Arc and Taya to exchange glances.

"Tartaros…" Aira looked over at Arc and Taya. "Isn't that where…"

"Yes, Arc and I are form Tartaros, Aira," Taya replied. "But it was so we could get away from stuff like this!"

"What are we going to do then?" Selene asked, looking over at the White Eclipse mages.

"Tch…I still don't think we should do anything…but with Tartaros involved, it's hard to pass this up…" Reve crossed his arms tapping his foot.

"Reve…" Master Calium walked out of the guild.

"Master?" Nami looked at Calium, who had a stern look on his face.

"I have to warn you…those two guilds are very dangerous on their own…" Calium said. "Together…and with the girl, it may be Fiore's end…"

"We're not going to let that happen!" Luke shouted.

"Yeah!" Kuro nodded in agreement. "We're gonna do something, right Reve?"

Reve stay silent for a few minutes, "Ugh…If this wasn't so serious I'd say no…but we can't pass this up…"

"So we're going!?" Nami asked excitedly.

"We can't all go…" Reve said. "Someone's gotta hold the fort down."

"And I'm not letting Nami go…" Taya said rather protectively.

"I'll leave the selection to you, Reve…" Calium nodded before walking back inside.

"Heh…alright guys…judging from what the old man just said…this mission could probably be our last…" Reve said with a slight smirk.

"Probably? You sound like you doubt us," Michio replied.

"Of course not," Reve nodded. "But, just in case that off chance actually happens, some of you gotta stay back and hold down the fort…"

"So, who are you picking?" Takeru asked.

"Simple. Zalen, Luke, Aira, Heather, Cygnus, Jaxon, Waiston, Takeru, Selena, Waiston, Jack, and Arc, you feeling up for it?"

Arc nodded slowly. "I'll fight."

"Gimme a sec!" Jack shouted. The drunk then ran inside the guild, grabbed a six pack of beer, and then ran back outside with the beer at his side. "I would hate to do this sober!"

"What? You're not taking me?" Taya asked.

"Why should I? You might just leave during a fight I have…" Reve replied turning his back to Taya.

"I…" Taya sighed, realizing what this was about. "I left for a reason…"

"Oh yeah? What reason!?" Reve asked, the tension between the two causing everyone to go silent.

"…I couldn't stand watching her hurt you…" Taya replied in a low tone. "I was there until you brought the magnum out…I just wanted to end the fight if it meant you were okay…"

"…." Reve turned around slowly, smirking just slightly. "I'm Reve Volver, remember?"

"So, are we going?" Jaxon asked.

"Better question," Luke interrupted. "How ARE we going to get there?

"It's too far away for a transport tornado…" Jaxon frowned slightly.

"Don't worry about that," Reve replied, looking down the mountain trail. "I know a guild that should be able to lend us a hand…" Reve turned around, only to have a hand like shadow vector slap his back.

"Get 'em," Taya said with a smirk.

Reve led the White Eclipse group he selected down to the base of the mountain. White Eclipse was in the mountains based behind one of Fiore's well known guilds, Blue Pegasus. Luke took the lead, knocking on the front door a few times. "…Are you sure he's here?" Luke asked, looking over at Reve.

"He should be…" Reve replied.

"Come in!" A voice said through the door.

"…You heard the voice," Luke shrugged, and then opened the door, looking around the inside of Blue Pegasus. "Wow this place gives off that fruity feeling…"

"So it's not just me that feels it too then…" Heather curled her lip slightly as she looked around.

Before Selene and Aira could do anything, the Trimens, Eve, Hibiki, and Ren. "Oh my…what luck have we here with two beauties walking inside?" Hibiki asked.

"UM…" Selene raised an eyebrow, using her hand to shoo the three womanizers away. "You can go now…"

"Yeah…" Aira took a tiny step back. "We're not here for you guys…at all…"

"What would it take to change your mind?" Eve asked, taking Selene's hand, looking her in the eyes.

"Nothing! Get off me! And go away!" Selene withdrew her hands form Eve's grasp, turning away and huffing. "Geez…"

"You're just like a snowflake…cold, yet beautiful…" Eve replied, not even phased by Selene not looking at him.

"….Are these guys for real?" Luke raised an eyebrow at the trio of womanizers.

"…Where's Ichiya…?" Reve asked, not feeling too comfortable around this place.

"Oh, he won't be back for a little while," Master Bob replied from the couch. "He went out on a mission, but I do think it shouldn't be a long wait."

"Thanks Ma-" Reve started.

"That's a guy…" Luke whispered over to Reve.

"That's a guy….!?" Reve's eyes widened slightly before he turned around.

"So…we're stuck here with these…things…until this guy gets back!?" Selene said things in reference to the Trimens who were currently around the two girls.

"HA!" Cygnus couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Oh, aren't you a handsome young man…" Bob said as he leaned in towards Cygnus.

"EEEH…" Cygnus leaned away, feeling really uncomfortable around Bob now.

"I've been seeing a lot of these kinds of people lately..." Heather blinked, though speaking was a bad idea as Eve immediately flocked over to her. "...No."

"Tch…Is there estrogen in this place at all or…" Luke started. Luke then looked around, spotting Blue Peagsus' model, Jenny leaning against the wall. Hearts immediately replacing his eyes. "Oh hello..."

"Down, Luke," Selene replied.

"Jenny!" The Trimens shifted their attention to Jenny, who was in her standard dress.

"You guys were drooling over those three?" Jenny asked, looking up towards Selene, Aira, and Heather.

"We weren't enjoying it," Heather added.

"Eh...they aren't too bad looking, but nothing to oogle over," Jenny replied, waving a hand.

"Those sound like fighting words," Cygnus chuckled slightly.

"Fighting?" Jenny giggled lightly before sitting on the couch, crossing her legs as she leaned back, looking as though she was in a modeling position. The Trimens immediately started to nose bleed at the sight.

"Oh, come on now!" Luke shouted to the three males. "I know she's hot but that's nothing to nose bleed over!" Luke turned around, only to see Jenny in a two piece bikini now, laying on the couch in a seductive-ish pose. "OH HELLO," Luke and Waiston started to nose bleed at that sight. Waiston stared openly over at Jenny and had no shame in doing such a thing.

"O-Oh my..." Zalen's glasses started to fog up.

"You can't be serious..." Reve groaned.

"See? Nothing to fight about," Jenny smirked over st the two girls.

Selene stayed silent, giving Jenny a "e.ê" kind of look. "..."

Aira looked over at Selene, raising an eyebrow. "I think she's insulting our looks without insulting us..."

"I think so too..." Selene whispered back over to Aira.

"What are you two whispering about?" Luke asked, wiping his nose to rid himself of the nose bleed.

Selene and Aira didn't respond, instead they took a step forward, looking at Jenny. "You're on," Selene said.

"Wait...you two actually want to face off against me?" Jenny blinked, a confident smirk tugging her lips.

"...Are they serious?" Luke asked.

"God I hope so..." Waiston replied with no shame, most likely in his hormonal teenager stage.

"We don't have time for this..." Reve groaned.

"We don't really have a choice if that guy isn't here..." Jaxon replied.

"I'm not complaining," Waiston said.

"Neither am I..." Zalen replied, cleaning his glasses off.

"I don't understand what's happening..." Takeru blinked cluelessly.

Jenny stood across from Selene and Aira, still in her swimsuit. "You're on!"

With that, Jenny vs. Aira and Selene in a model off started. Jenny laid down on her back, spreading her arms out as she laid in a different two piece bathing suit, causing the Trimens to nose bleed even more, staining the red carpet. Selene and Aira magically appeared in bikini's as well, causing a few of the males in White Eclipse to nose bleed. "Oh my..." Jaxon said as he stared. "The female anatomy is quite interesting..."

Jack already consumed a beer, and his cheeks were tinted pink from the alcohol consumption. Though, he stared at the three girls oddly, mostly because in his current drunken state he was seeing three of each of them, so he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. "..."

Arc could hear everyone's reactions, though he couldn't see them due to the bandages over his heads. "I don't know what's going on...I'm not sure I want to..."

The "battle" continued for about ten minutes, both sides seemingly tied. "You two are too bad..." Jenny smirked slightly.

"Hmph..." Selene was fully clothed now, along with Aira.

"MEN!" Ichiya opened the door, holding a bag of jewels in his possession.

"Oh thank god he's here!" Reve sighed a sigh of relief.

"Welcome back, Ichiya!" Bob said excitedly. "We have guest!"

"Guest?" Ichiya looked over at the White Eclipse mages. "For me?"

"Mhm!" Bob nodded.

"Did you see that broadcast?" Luke asked.

"Ah, yes, I did. Men. It's quite threatening...I wish there was something I could do to help my Erza-chan..." Ichiya replied.

"Actually, I think there's something you can do," Reve replied.

"Men?" Ichiya looked over at Reve.

"Basically, we heard you had a ship, and we were wondering if you'd take us there. To the center of Fiore," Reve answered.

"My ship? Oh! That? Wait!" Ichiya then glared at the White Eclipse mages, remembering their competition with Fairy Tail. "You're not going to hurt my Erza-chan, are you...?"

"N-no! Of course not!" Luke replied.

"Good...because if you did...I would bring a wrath upon you so intense you will fear the scent of any parfum..." Ichiya said, his tone obviously threatening.

"Oh my...he's serious..." Heather was taken aback slightly by Ichiya's sudden change in attitude.

"I-I promise we won't!" Reve nodded a few times.

"Please help us!" Aira pleaded.

"As long as I have your word, men,". Ichiya nodded. "Trimens, get her ready!"


	67. Chapter 67: Omega Fire Cannon

Erza, Laxus, Mirajane, Elfman, Warren, Natsu, Juvia, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Carla, Lily, Gajeel, Cana, and Wendy all climbed the mountainous area within the center of Fiore. When they came to a clearing, they stood in front of a large tower that had a close resemblance to the Tower of Heaven. The ground was lightly caked with snow, just enough for a minor audible crunch sound to occur whenever someone took a step forward. "Cynthia's in here..." Wendy said, looking up at the large tower.

"She's probably at the top," Laxus said as his coat blew lightly in the direction of the wind.

"Let's not waste any time then..." Mirajane nodded slowly.

"Oh, why not stick around a bit?" Maggie walked outside from the tower's front door, a sly smirk appearing over her face.

"You're one of those mages that attacked Fairy Tail!" Natsu growled as his body flickered into flames, glaring at Maggie.

"Yeesh," Maggie sighed. "I knew Tobias was a waste of space...the bloomin' wanker can't even get rid of a couple of Fairies..."

"You didn't think getting rid of us was going to be that easy, did you?" Erza asked, glaring at the lava mage.

"Maybe for Tobias it isn't," Maggie shrugged, then pointed over to the front door. "Oh, you blokes wanna get in here, don't'cha?"

"Don't even think about getting in our way either..." Wendy replied in a serious tone.

"Oh, what's with the tone, love?" Maggie smirked slyly at Wendy. "You should be thanking me! If it wasn't for me you and the child would be in prison right about now. So don't get your nickers in a twist," Wendy stayed silent after Maggie's comment, unsure on how to respond.

"You don't owe her anything, Wendy!" Carla shouted.

"But she did..." Wendy started.

"She didn't do it for you," Lucy started. "She did it for her own selfish reasons, not for you!"

"Right...!" Wendy nodded.

"Hm, you're a lot smarter than ya look, blondie," Maggie replied. "I gotta say, that child is quite a piece of work. She's quite the fighter, and a strong one, eh?"

"Stop stalling us," Gray said, glaring at Maggie.

"Stalling?" Maggie asked with an innocent look. "Now why would I do such a thing?"

"Trying to prevent us from getting in," Gray replied, taking a step forward. "We're not idiots. We're here for Cynthia, not idle chit chat with someone who destroyed Fairy Tail!"

"Juvia agrees with Gray-sama!" Juvia flailed her arms around before glaring deeply at Maggie.

"You guys go on ahead," Gray said, immediately throwing off his jacket, showing how serious he was. "I'll show this woman what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail and the people inside..."

"Allow Juvia to help!" Juvia nodded, looking over at Gray.

"Juvia. Go," Gray said in a demanding tone, keeping his gaze on Maggie.

"You better kick her ass, Gray!" Natsu shouted, running inside the front doors along with all the others.

"Don't worry," Gray replied, placing his fist into his palm as a chilling wind surrounded his legs.

"...Why the hell did you just..." Maggie shook her head, a devilish smirk appearing over her lips. "Ice wizard, hm? Well, I'd love to be the one to melt that ice of yours," Maggie's smirk widened as her hands glowed a bright red, eventually leaking lava from the palm of her hands. "Play with fire, get burned, love..."

.

.

"L-LET ME GO...!" Cynthia's body erupted in dark red flames as she attempted to break free from her restraints, but she was unable to do to so, only causing her to struggle even more.

"Hm..." Aiden paid no mind to Cynthia's plea, instead he just observed the flames around her body. "Your flames...Hm...they're stronger...not just from your emotions...interesting..."

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Cynthia clenched her eyes shut, struggling as she started to make minor leeway in her restraints.

"Tch, stop avoiding my question, you brat..." Aiden pressed a button on a device nearby, causing the restrains to tighten, constricting Cynthia even further.

"EEK!" Cynthia let out a yelp as she felt the restraints tightening against her. Causing her voice to lower to a whimper. "I-I want Wendy..."

"Tch...Wendy this, Wendy that...you just won't shut up about her..." Aiden groaned and then looked up at several lacrima screens. "Oh...?" Aiden noticed that the group of Fairy Tail wizards entering the tower, and Gray standing behind to face off against Maggie. "What's this...? They actually showed up? I'm impressed..."

"T-They're here?!" Cynthia's voice turned from a whimper to an excited squeal. "I knew they would come...!"

"Don't think that just because they're here they're going to survive," Aiden replied, moving his head to an intercom. "Tartaros, Silent Sanctum, it's show time."

"T-They can beat those stupid mages...and you...!" Cynthia shouted, smirking slightly, feeling better now that Fairy Tail was here to save her.

"Tch, confident little snot, aren't you?" Aiden asked, looking at the other lacrima screens, noticing a ship in the distance. "What's that...?" He reached over, pressing another button. "This should take care of whatever the hell that is..."

.

.

Team White Eclipse rode the sky's on Blue Pegasus's brilliant ship, Christina; heading towards the mountains in the center of Fiore. All was seemingly going well, the only downside of the transportation was that the four dragon slayers were suffering from motion sickness. Waiston's face was pale as he hung his head over the side, feeling as though he was going to vomit any second. "Why couldn't we just WALK?!" Waiston asked, groaning after he spoke.

"If it wasn't so far away I'd use a tornado to get us there..." Jaxon nodded.

"Would that be better or worse than this...?" Selene groaned, leaning against the wall as she held her stomach.

"More or less..." Jaxon replied.

Reve pulled out a sniper with a scope, and looked through it, spotting the large tower way in the distance. "I can see the mountains..."

"Great, so only about thirty or so minutes before we reach there?" Luke asked, turning over to Ichiya.

"Yes, men," Ichiya nodded. "That does sound right. Isn't this ship grand?"

"If I wasn't currently suffering from whatever this is it would be great..." Heather replied, bringing her hand up to her mouth.

"This ship is AMAZING!" Zalen replied to Ichiya rather excitedly. "I love this ship's exterior, and the interior just puts me at a loss for words. And the cannons, those are just...!"

"Men!" Ichiya grinned excitedly as he and Zalen entered conversation about Christina.

"Where's Arc?" Jack asked, looking around the ship for the Demon Slayer.

"Arc can fly, so there's not much point in him riding a ship when he can do that," Luke replied. "I think he's just a little ways behind us, that's all."

"How you feeling, Tak?" Cygnus asked, walking over to Takeru, who was in the fetal position on the ground while holding his stomach.

"How...do you think...?" Takeru asked through a loud groan.

"I wish I could help you...but I only have basic healing magic..." Aira frowned slightly as she watched the suffering dragon slayers, feeling bad that she was unable to do anything to help them. A few minutes of silence passed before the ground below Christina started to shake, the vibrations of the wind causing everyone's attention to snap over to the shaking.

"...What was that?" Ren asked, looking around from the interior of the ship.

"...Did we just feel the ground shake...?" Eve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It felt like the wind...but..." Hibiki used his magic to open up a gold magic circle, but before he had the chance to do anything, the ground began to rumble violently.

"THIS IS MAKING IT WORSE!" Waiston shouted, his face turning green as he actually hurled off the side of the ship.

"What the hell is going on..." Reve walked over to the side of the ship, looking back. The ground started to open; but it wasn't quite like something was rising out of the ground and broke it open. The ground neatly spread apart, and a platform started to rise from the ground.

"What the...?" Luke looked over Reve's shoulder, unsure on what was happening.

From the platform, a large fifty foot spider emerged. A few seconds passed before the spider engulfed itself in flames and looked up at the far away Christina, dashing forward towards the flying ship. "What the /FUCK/ is that thing!?" Reve shouted, jumping back from the sight of the spider.

"SPIDER," Luke shouted.

"It's coming this way!" Aira shrieked.

.

.

Gray placed his hands into his fist, a blue magic circle appearing in front of him, "Ice Make: Geyser!" Gray put his hands on the ground, causing an ice geyser to shoot up, trapping Maggie within the frigid ice. A few seconds passed and Maggie's body glowed a bright red, causing the ice to emit a steam as a soft sizzling sound resulted because of it. "What?" Gray's eyes widened slightly.

The ice melted, and Maggie stepped out of the ice prison with minor damage. "Too hot for you?" Maggie smirked as tilted her head up, gathering a large volume of ash into her mouth. "Ashfall..." Maggie threw her head forward as a grey magic circle appeared in front of her, unleashing a large ball of ash in Gray's direction.

"Ice Make: Cocoon!" Gray brought his arms together as a large cocoon made of ice appeared around his body. It was enough to soften the blow of the exploding ash, but it wasn't enough to withstand it as the cocoon shattered and Gray tumbled across the ground. When Gray came to a stop he immediately looked around...however the exploding ash was now covering the entire battle field, and he was unable to see anything in front of him.

"Is there a problem, ice boy?" Maggie's voice came out as a soft giggle, though Gray was unable to pinpoint her location due to all the ash. Maggie's body turned into lava and slipped through the tiniest cracks in the ground, appearing right behind Gray, a sadistic grin tugging her lips. Maggie reared her arm back, using her magic to give it a bright red glow, signifying the temperature on her arm was quite high. Maggie then swung her fist at Gray's back, a sizzling sound caused by the meeting of flesh and lava.

"GAH!" Gray felt a burning sensation on his back as he tumbled forward, deep into the surrounding ash. "Tch...is that all you got!? Natsu's flames are hotter than yours!" Gray looked around once again, staying on guard as Maggie continued to giggle darkly. "Ice Make: ...Fan!" A large fan made of ice appeared in Gray's hands; he gripped the handle firmly with both of his hands then swung it forward, creating a large gust of wind that forced the ash down the mountain, revealing Maggie's location a few feet to Gray's left. "I got you!" Gray swung the fan again, sending a harsh gust of wind towards Maggie.

"Clever..." Maggie smirked slightly as her body turned into lava once again, slipping through the smallest cracks in the ground, avoiding the harsh gust of wind.

"Not this time...!" Gray dropped the fan, causing it to vanish as he placed his hands on the ground. "Ice Make: Floor!" A large portion of the ground froze over, just as Maggie slipped through. Gray smirked, now having Maggie just where he wanted her. "Ice Make:..." Before Gray could finish his sentence, he noticed a large magic circle appearing just below the ice. "What...!?"

A pool of lava appeared under the ice, quickly causing it to melt. Gray jumped into the air, luckily avoiding the lava before it vanished. Maggie stood a few yards from Gray, dusting off her jumpsuit. "Heh..."

.

.

"Fire the cannons!" Hibiki shouted.

"On it!" Eve pressed a few buttons, and the cannons on the bottom of Christina released blue oval-shaped blast down at the incoming fire spider. The blast came in rapid succession, but the spider hopped from side to side, avoiding the magical blast, and the explosion radius as well. The spider then opened its mouth, sending multiple fire balls up at the ship.

"MENN!" Ichiya shouted as the fire balls neared.

"Everyone hang on!" Ren shouted as the ship made a hard left, avoiding the incoming fire balls.

"What the hell is up with that spider!?" Luke shouted. He then puffed his cheeks out, releasing an Ice Dragon's roar down on the spider since Waiston was currently unable to do so. The roar hit the spider, causing it to stand its ground for a few seconds. "Now!"

"I don't know but I want it dead!" Reve had a secret fear of spiders, so a giant flaming one really set him off. Reve requiped two assault rifles and released a seemingly endless stream of bullets down towards the spider, stopping its movement even farther.

"Again!" Eve pressed the same button he did last time, sending multiple oval shape blasts from Christina's cannon, this time hitting the spider as a large explosion occured.

"Got it!" Aira shouted, letting out a sigh of relief.

"That crazy scientist didn't make that...did he...?" Selene groaned, almost vomiting from the ship's hard left a few seconds before.

"I don't know..." Jaxon replied. "But there's something wrong with that man, no doubt..."

"Is everyone okay, men?" Ichiya asked, looking primarily at the Dragon Slayers.

"Just...watch where you step..." Heather replied.

"I feel like dying..." Takeru replied.

.

.

"Oh...it's that ship, Christina..." Aiden replied. "From Blue Pegasus? What are they doing trying to get over here...Oh...what to do with such troublesome...OH!" A dark grin appeared over Aiden's lips as he looked over at Cynthia, who stopped resisting for the moment.

"W-What...?" Cynthia whimpered softly, her eyes watering.

"This will be a great chance to see your new power, Fiore's End," Aiden grinned, walking over to a device and began pressing a few buttons. A large open cylinder appeared over Cynthia, leading up into a larger device.

"M-My name is Cynthia..." Cynthia replied, looking up at the cylinder.

"No, you're a tool, not a person," Aiden replied, completely ignoring the harshness of his words.

"B-But I'm a member of Fairy Tail..." Cynthia said.

"Are you really? Can you call yourself that and mean it?" Aiden asked, looking up at the lacrima screen recording the incoming Christina.

"I-I did before...!" Cynthia replied, raising her voice slightly.

"Oh, but did you mean it?" Aiden asked once again, looking over at Cynthia as his finger lingered over a red button.

"I-I...Back then I..." Cynthia thought back to the first time she called herself a Fairy Tail wizard, and back then she wasn't quite honest with the saying. She still felt like a tool to be used back then, and she only said it to make herself feel better about being free.

"I thought so. Now...I wonder what would happen if I sent the most powerful mage here to Wendy..." Aiden smirked.

"YOU LEAVE WENDY ALONE!" Cynthia screamed out, dark red flames appearing as she attempted to struggle once again.

"It only takes this much to set you off? Heh..." Aiden pressed a button, and the cylinder above Cynthia started to extract the flames, forcibly causing her to intensify them as the building and the area around it began to shake.

Cynthia let out a loud shriek as her flames intensified without her consent, feeling the cannon extracting her magic power and causing strain on her body. "S-STOP IT!"

"Omega Fire Cannon...FIRE!"

.

.

Maggie and Gray stopped in their tracks, looking around to see where the shaking was coming from. "What the hell...!?" Gray shouted, looking up at the tower. The tower's top began to shift, changing into a large cannon pointed in one direction. The cannon's inside gave off a bright orange light, signifying that it was going to fire off in a matter of seconds.

.

.

"Uh..." Luke pointed to the cannon off in the distance. "What is that thing...?"

"It looks like a cannon..." Zalen replied, squinting his eyes to see if he could get a better look.

"I...Is that thing aimed at us...?" Cygnus asked, quickly looking over to the others.

The cannon gave a low robotic sound before unleashing a MASSIVE funnel of dark red fire, aimed directly at Christina. "MENNNN!" Ichiya screamed out.

"ITS AIMED AT US ITS AIMED AT US," Luke shouted, panicking as the funnel of fire raced forward.

"Look out!" Hibiki shouted as the ship made a sharp move to the left, mostly effective, but the right-wing of the ship was utterly obliterated and the ship began to nose dive towards the ground.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE," Waiston shouted.

"I got it!" Zalen pointed his hands at the broken wing, a magic circle appearing as he slowly began to fix it.

"We're not gonna make it...!" Aira shouted.

"I...I got it!" Zalen fixed the wing just before Christina hit the ground, allowing the ship to pull up back into the air safely.

"Nice Zalen!" Reve panted, but he gave his friend a smirk. Everyone looked back at where the shot the cannon fired went off to, only for their eyes to widened. The cannon hit the ground, causing a fiery explosion that wiped out everything with a 40 mile radius.

.

.

Even from Gray's position, he was able to see the explosion caused. "W-What..." Gray's eyes widened with pure shock.

"Bloody hell..." Even Maggie was shocked by the sheer power of the cannon, and the destruction it caused.

.

.

Inside, team Fairy Tail got a visual on what was happening via lacrima screens posted everywhere, most likely by Aiden. Their eyes widened when they witnessed the destruction the cannon caused. "T-Those flames..." Wendy stuttered.

.

.

Cynthia's head fell back as she panted heavily, feeling the immense strain on her body the cannon caused, tears rolling down her cheeks. Aiden ignored this and gave a hearty laugh. "WAHAHAH! That was only 30% power too! This is excellent! This is only a portion of the power of the tool that will be used to destroy Fiore!"

"Tool..." Cynthia closed her eyes as the tears streamed down her cheeks.


	68. Chapter 68: Omega Fire Cannon Part 2

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Luke shouted at the dispersing explosion.

"Those flames..." Aira started.

"I'll tell you what that was," Cygnus started. "NOT GOOD, THAT'S WHAT!"

"How the hell did he draw THAT much power from a little girl!?" Luke flailed his arms around, looking around for an answer.

"How are we suppose to know!?" Zalen shouted back at Luke, unable to find any explanation.

"That thing was REALLY close to destroying us!" Waiston said through a loud groan, holding his stomach. "Can we just get off this stupid ship already!?" After he spoke, a large fire ball flew past the right wing of the ship. "What the hell...?!" Waiston slowly looked down, and saw the flaming spider attempting to attack the ship once again.

"It's back...MEN!" Ichiya looked down, a bad decision as a fire ball nearly burnt the entirety of his face off.

"SOMEONE GET RID OF THIS FUCKING SPIDER!" Reve shouted, changing his assault rifles for his six chambered magnum, unleashing a round on the spider. The spider hopped to the side, avoiding the bullet and the explosion it caused.

"What's up with this thing!?" Luke placed his hand into his fist, sending off a multitude of ice lances towards the Spider, but its heated body melted the lances before it could reach.

"Stubborn bastard!" Reve snarled just as the cannons fired off again, simultaneously like last time, but the spider avoided each and every shot.

"It's getting closer...!" Aira shrieked.

"Welp, guess I gotta deal with it," Cygnus shrugged and stood on the side of the ship. "You guys better take care of things!" Cygnus jumped off the side, manipulating the gravity around him to make himself heavier as he slammed right into the agile spider.

"Cyg!" Zalen shouted.

"Don't worry, he can handle it," Luke replied, turning around as they neared the large tower.

.

.

"H-How much power was that!?" Natsu asked, turning back around to look at the group.

"I-I don't know..." Lucy asked, dumbstruck by the cannon's power. "I hope that was everything that cannon could muster...!"

"If it wasn't, we're in some serious trouble..." Laxus said in a serious tone. No one really wanted to hear that, but he knew it had to be said.

"So, what's the plan?" Mirajane asked.

"Do we split up, or go together?" Cana asked, sneaking a quick sip from her beer.

"If we split up, we'll have to be extra careful about those Tartaros and Silent Sanctum mages..." Erza replied.

"Juvia would like to ask where we should begin looking..." Juvia said, looking around the first floor of the tower, unsure on where to go due to the many passage ways.

"It would take too long to check each passage way..." Lucy frowned a bit, crossing her arms as she leaned on her left leg. "We don't have time either...not a lot of it..."

"Hold on..." Elfman said, eyeing one of the passages suspiciously. "Someone unmanly is coming..."

"How can you tell..." Lucy gave Elfman an odd look, but she trusted his instincts. A few seconds later a large, round male with no hair, a large coat, and black boots walked in, his eyes closed. "Who...?"

Erza's eyes widened at the sight of this male before she glared at him. "You're..."

The male opened his eyes, a blue color to them, as he looked at Titania, laughing. "Oh, look who it is! It's the almighty Titania!"

"Who's this guy!?" Natsu asked, glaring at the large individual in front of the group.

"He's the one...the leader of those dark mages from a while back...the one who caught me off guard..." Erza replied.

"WHAT!? That was this guy!?" Natsu engulfed his body in flames and then pounded his knuckles together, causing a red magic circle to appear. "You're gonna pay!" Natsu lunged forward.

"NATSU NO!" Erza grabbed Natsu by his muffler and pulled him back. "Don't touch him! He'll drain your magic if you make contact with him!"

"What?" Natsu looked over his shoulder to Erza.

"I see you've recovered quite nicely from our last encounter..." The rounded male smirked over at Erza. Before anyone could response, Wendy immediately unleashed a Omega Flame Sky Dragon's roar upon the male, knocking him out instantly.

"Get out of our way!" Wendy yelled at the male before sniffing the air. "Cynthia...I can't smell her...!" Wendy wasn't thinking too clearly, which wasn't too surprise because her best friend was in danger, so without thinking she just ran into a random passage, hoping to catch the faintest scent of Cynthia.

"W-Wendy, come back!" Carla immediately flew after Wendy.

"Dammit...!" Natsu and Happy ran after Wendy and Carla.

"N-Natsu! Wendy! Wait!" Lucy held a hand forward as she ran after the two dragon slayers.

"Guess we're splitting up?" Gajeel asked.

"Looks like it..." Laxus replied, walking into a passage. "Stay safe everyone..."

"Warren, Cana stay here just in case..." Erza said, taking a different passage than Laxus.

Warren and Cana nodded, keeping an eye on the front door in case someone else decided to arrive. "Alright." Gajeel and Patherlily, Juvia, Mirajane and Elfman, took separate passages from the others, unsure on which one would lead them to Cynthia, but they knew they had to find out.

.

.

"I wonder if I should raise the percentage to 40% now..." Aiden walked back and forth as he tapped his chin, unsure if he should show more power from Fiore's End immediately after or if he should wait.

"Please...don't..." Cynthia replied, her dark red flames flowing around her body uncontrollably.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Aiden grinned slightly, completely ignoring Cynthia before turning on the broadcasting lacrima to project another announcement to all of Fiore.

.

.

"I see the tower...!" Luke pointed forward towards the tower.

Heather's eyes widened slightly at the tower, a sick feeling in her stomach, and it wasn't from the motion sickness. "That..."

"Heather, are you okay...?" Luke looked over at Heather.

"I-I'm fine..." Heather nodded slowly.

"Hey, look...!" Waiston pointed down to Gray and Maggie down below.

"Looks like Gray is having a hard time..." Zalen pointed out.

"Heh...Let me down here," Waiston said, a smirk appearing on his lips as he started to get over the motion sickness.

"Waiston, you wanna go down there?" Reve asked.

"Yeah, he looks like he could use some help, right?" Waiston nodded slowly, standing on the side of the ship, wobbling slightly. "Don't worry, we'll be able to handle it!" Waiston smirked and then jumped off the ship, feeling instant relief since he was no longer on the moving ship.

"Heh...that's right, Waiston," Reve smirked slightly before turning to Ichiya. "Hey, you! See if you can swing us around to the back so we can get in that way!"

"Men! It shall be done!" Ichiya nodded. "Trimens!"

.

.

"Damn..." Gray panted somewhat heavily, Maggie's lava making easy work of his ice. Gray was damaged quite a bit, and Maggie was also damaged, but not as much as Gray.

"What's the matter, Popsicle?" Maggle asked with a smirk, taking a few steps towards Gray. "Too hot for you?"

"I'm just getting warmed up..." Gray replied, standing up straight as he placed his fist into his palm again.

Maggie let out a giggle before holding her hands out, allowing them to glow bright red. "This was fun, but I have some plonky Fairies inside to exterminate, so..."

"Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston opened his mouth, unleashing a cold blast down at Maggie; the sudden attack caused the Lava Mage to take a few steps back.

"Bloody hell?!" Maggie looked up, spotting Waiston land next to Gray.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Gray asked, looking towards Waiston.

"I saw you were having a little trouble with the heat, so I came down to lower the temperature a bit," Waiston smirked and then looked over at Maggie.

"I don't need your help," Gray scoffed.

"Oi, let's put things aside for once..." Waiston said in a serious tone. "This is more important than some guild rivalry."

Gray stayed silent for a second before allowing two blades of ice to appear on his arm and his elbow on his other arm. "Let's show this girl the meaning of cold..."

"That's what I like to hear..." Waiston smirked, stomping on the ground, causing a trail of glacial ice spikes to travel towards Maggie as Gray leapt forward, pulling his bladed arm back.

.

.

Things at the Magic Council were tense; all of the members of the Council just witnessed the cannon's power, and now they were panicking on what they should do about it. "H-How much power can he get from a little girl?!" Lahar asked in a state of shock as the explosion from the cannon started to vanish.

"T-That's too much power for such a small child..." Correll replied, looking over to the chairman of the Magic Council, Gran Doma, for any words on what to do.

"That power is devastating...and to think the other test subjects we caught were dangerous..." Gran Doma said, sighing heavily. "There's only one thing we can do...we have to evacuate-..."

"Evacuate to where, if I may ask?" Aloy said, not even caring that he just interrupted the Magic Council Chairman.

"A-Aloy...!" Doranbolt looked over at Aloy with a surprised face.

Gran Doma minded the sudden interupption, but he started to speak once again anyway, "Until this fisaco is over with...I suggest we try and see if we can move everyone to Bosco..."

"You didn't understand my question," Aloy replied once again. "Think about this...this IS Fiore's End, is it not? The power from that cannon destroyed a small portion of the country, what makes you think that escaping will help?" Aloy's pessimistic speech was something nobody wanted to hear, but at the same time there was truth in what he was saying. "I'm fairly certain that Fiore is only a small step before Bosco, and then perhaps the world."

"The world?!" Odin's eyes widened as he turned to Aloy. "That's crazy!"

"Is it really now?" Aloy turned to Odin. "Do we place our faith in some rag tag group of wizards, or do we accept our fate?"

"Hold on a second!" Lahar interjected. "We've sent him, and my guess is that he's close to the area right now!"

"Him?" Aloy raised an eyebrow.

Before anyone could say anything to Aloy, the lacrima screen showing Aiden popped up once again. "Oh, I hope you all saw the amazing creation of what I like to call the Omega Fire Cannon! In case your curious on how much power that was using, that was only 30% of the cannon's power. I did that just to show you just how hopeless your situation really is." Aiden's last comment was more for Cynthia than anyone else. "I hope you didn't place all of your faith in Fairy Tail, because I can assure you that they WILL fall...So, " The lacrima screen split off, showing the progress of the Fairy Tail members that split up, running in the tower as they attempted to reach the top. The screen eventually vanished after a few seconds, leaving the Council members to mutter among themselves nervously about the fate of Fiore.

.

.

Cobra stood on some high ground, looking up at the tower in the distance, the wind blowing his coat back slightly. Cobra closed his eyes, listening to all the thoughts and sounds of the people around or in the tower. "I hear you all..." He placed his hands out, opening his palms as a poisonous mist started to flow from his hands. "I can hear it...the sound of the one you call Cynthia...I can hear her suffering..."


	69. Chapter 69: Independence

"Mira-nee...Elfnee-chan..." Lisanna looked up at sky, wondering how Mirajane and Elfman were doing in the tower.

"Don't worry, Lisanna," Makarov replied with a reassuring smile. "Those brats will be fine..."

"Hey..." Macao looked around, scratching the back of his head. "As anyone seen Kinana...?"

.

.

Team White Eclipse, minus Waiston, blasted their way through the back of the tower, jumping from Christina onto the solid ground. Luke turned around, waving to the Blue Pegasus mages. "Thanks for the lift!"

"Men! Now, do your best!" Ichiya nodded as Christina flew off into the distance and out of sight, not wanting to get shot again.

"Oh thank GOD we're off that ship..." Selene placed her hands on the ground, feeling much better now that she was on solid ground.

"This place gives me the creeps..." Aira said, looking around.

"Don't let that discourage you," Luke said with a nod. "We're here to save Fiore after all, because god knows Fairy Tail can only do but so much...Anyway!" Luke grinned, slamming his fist into an open palm. "What's the plan!?"

"Split up into groups," Reve said. "Unless you would prefer going solo. Either way, I suggest that everyone be careful, I know these mages are nothing to sneeze at."

"Selene and I will be a team!" Aira nodded with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Wait I didn't exactly agree to-" Before Selene could finish her sentence; Aira grabbed Selene's wrist and dragged her off into a random direction.

"Hm..." Heather sniffed around before a faint, familiar scent entered her nose. "I'll be going this way," Heather said, walking off to the east path.

"Heh..." Arc eventually made his way where Team White Eclipse was, looking around at the group. "I see we're all here..."

"Thanks to Zalen, otherwise we would've crashed quite a ways back..." Jack replied, holding onto his six pack of beer.

"So, we're splitting up it seems..." Jaxon said, looking around before deciding to take a path on his own.

"So...that leaves me, Zalen Jack...Reve...Arc...and Tak..." Luke thought to himself. By the time Luke looked up, the remaining four were gone. "WHA...But...they were just...ugh...always leaving me alone..."

.

.

"Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston opened his mouth, sending a powerful cold blast in Maggie's direction.

"Tch," Maggie jumped to the side, avoiding the incoming roar, but she wasn't prepared for Gray's attack.

"Ice Make: Ice Hammer!" A magic circle appeared over Maggie, and a giant ice hammer slammed down into her, creating a minor crater from the impact. "Got her!"

The hammer melted from Maggie's growing body temperature and anger, annoyed that two legal mages had the nerve to team up on her. "I'm starting to get annoyed with you two..." Maggie puffed her cheeks out, starting to inhale as a cloud of ash started to surround her mouth.

"Watch out!" Gray shouted.

"Ashfall..." Maggie threw her head forward, unleashing multiple balls of ash towards the two ice wizards.

"What the...?" Waiston crossed his arms as the balls of ash struck the area, filling the area with a thick smoke screen. A few balls of ash struck the two wizards as well, causing them to slide back into the center of the smoke screen. "Damn...! First off, that burns...second off, I can't smell her...this smoke screen is too thick..."

"I got it!" Gray placed his fist into his palm, but before he could say the words for an Ice Make spell, a heated fist slammed into his side, causing a large burn mark and Gray to stumble back into Waiston.

"Hey, watch it!" Waiston sneered at Gray.

"She hit me...!" Gray replied, glaring over at Waiston.

"This is exactly why I decided to give you a hand, it doesn't seem like you can do much on your own!" Waiston shouted.

"I didn't need your help in the first place!" Gray shouted back, obviously very annoyed. "Why are you even here? We didn't ask and we don't want your help!"

"You blokes really picked an interesting time to start fighting..." Maggie's voice had a slight giggle to it.

Gray slammed his fist into his palm; even though the ash was clouding his vision and starting to burn his flesh, he wasn't about to let Maggie have a victory here, there were too many things at stake for such a thing to happen. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray threw his arms forward, unleashing a barrage of large ice lances all around into the ash.

As Gray fired off his lances, Waiston stepped on the ground, causing a glacier to appear under his feet and launch him into the air, now above the smoke screen. He saw Maggie a few feet away from the smoke screen, laughing as Gray's lances were way off target. "Got you..." Waiston tucked his arms in and dove down towards Maggie, rigid ice covering his legs as he went for an axe kick to the girl's head.

"What the...?" Maggie noticed Waiston coming down towards him, so she brought her arm up, blocking Waitson's attack just in time. Waiston then jumped back, just in time as Gray used Ice Make Fan once again to disperse the ash, revealing his lightly charred body.

"Damn...that's hot..." Gray replied, shaking his head as he stood up straight, allowing his ice fan to vanish.

"She's stronger than she looks..." Waiston said, wiping his mouth.

"Play with fire, you get burn, loves," Maggie replied to the two ice mages with a devious smirk. "In fact, I think I'm just about down toying with you two…"

"She's toying with us…!?" Gray asked, taking a cautious step back.

"No way, she's bluffing!" Waiston replied, keeping a deep glare on Maggie.

"Am I?" Maggie's smirk widened as she spread her arms out, causing a grey magic circle to appear under her. "Lava Wave," Lava spiraled around Maggie's feet, and then launched up into a large wave of lava which Maggie rode forward.

"Shit!" Gray stuck his hands out, a blue magic circle appearing. "Ice Make: Rampart!" Gray spread his arms apart, creating a large wall of ice to block the incoming lava. Waiston gave support by stepping on the ground, causing a blue magic circle to appear just in front of the rampart. The magic circle unleashed large glaciers that shot up in front of the rampart for defense. The wave of lava crashed into the wall of ice, slowly eating away at it like acid.

"Shit, we need to think of a plan," Waiston said, looking over at Gray, panting slightly.

.

.

Cana and Warren were sitting at the entrance inside the tower, eying the door carefully. Cana was shuffling her deck of cards, making sure they would be ready in case anyone tried to attack them. Warren had to fingers to his temple, using this time to establish a telepathic connection with the Fairy Tail members inside. "Hello, can anyone here me?" Warren asked aloud.

"I can hear you, loud and clear," Laxus replied.

"I hear you, Warren," Erza replied. The other Fairy Tail members, aside from Gray, responded positively, signifying that the group was all connected via Warren.

"Excellent," Warren smiled slightly before looking around. "The only one that I don't have a link with is Gray, and he's still outside…"

"Gray'll be fine!" Happy commented gleefully.

"I hope so," Mirajane replied. "If I remember right, that girl took Natsu's flames like they were nothing…" Mirajane frowned slightly, but the only one who could see her do so was Elfman.

"That perverted iceberg better win!" Natsu shouted.

"Right…just be careful, everyone, and let me know when something comes up," Warren said before the link went silent, just meaning everyone to do what they were doing.

"Those bastards have a lot of nerve, don't you think?" Cana asked; feeling satisfied with the current arrangement of her deck and took a seat on a conveniently placed chair, crossing one leg over the other as she looked up at Warren.

"Mhm…taking one of our nakama…destroying our guild…" Warren replied.

"Not only that…" Cana frowned slightly as she swung her legs. "They did it on Wendy's birthday too…Imagine how the poor girl must feel right now?" Cana took her flask, thankful she remembered to bring it and took a sip. "She's not herself right now, I can say that much…I just hope we can all get out of this mess okay…"

.

.

Aiden turned his head, looking to the lacrima screen with the video of what was going on outside. His lips curled into a scowl as she saw Waiston, immediately looking at the other screens to confirm his suspicions. He was right; other members of White Eclipse snuck around the front and made their own entrance in his beloved tower, and were now roaming around as if they owned the place. "Blasted little..!" Aiden took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Actually…this is a good thing…I'll show Fiore what happens when you ignore my specific instructions. I think I'll amp the power up to 50% this time…Plus this will take out those meddling Pegasus' for a while…" Aiden walked over to the cannon controls and started to press a few buttons, tilting the cannon's aim from somewhere random to a specific location…White Eclipse.

"N-NO! DON'T DO IT!" Cynthia screamed out, the dark red flames appearing around her body once again, flaring out of her control. She used to have control, but during this entire incident, she was too lost in herself to control her emotions, so every little thing set her off; just how Aiden wanted.

"You don't have a say in this, tool," Aiden replied, starting to power up the cannon. The cylinder above Cynthia started to harness her wild red flames, feeding up into the cannon. The cannon gave off a low hum as the tower began to shake lightly. Aiden also put up feed of the cannon about to fire in the areas where White Eclipse mages were.

.

.

"What's this shaking!?" Natsu wobbled around for a little bit before his cheeks puff up, his face turning pale as a result as he hunched over.

"YOU'RE GETTING MOTION SICKNESS NOW!?" Happy asked in shock before picking up Natsu, floating above the air. However, Wendy didn't stop, and Carla didn't stop as a result. Wendy made a hard left at the next split path, Natsu and Happy just barely managing to follow her.

"W-Wendy, slow down!" Carla shouted, even flying at her fastest she found that she was barely able to keep up with the worried Sky dragon.

"I-I can't! Cynthia needs our help! I need to get to her!" Wendy shouted, not even sure where she was going, she just went in the direction that seemed right.

.

.

Arc felt the shaking of the tower, he felt the large buildup of magic energy rising into the area, so he did the only thing he could. He sprouted wings, and crashed through the wall back outside, flying to the top of the tower. About halfway through, he noticed the cannon was pointed in a particular direction, his mouth dropping as soon as he noticed through the bandages over his eyes where the cannon was pointed. "No…!" He increased his speed, but he knew one thing…he wasn't going to make it.

"That BASTARD!" Reve clenched his teeth, tightening his fist.

"He wouldn't…!" Zalen's jaw dropped as the cannon's humming got louder, telling that it was close to firing.

"Don't you do it!" Luke shouted, even though no one could hear him.

"Master and the others…!" Aira's eyes began to tear up; realizing that nothing they could possibly do could stop the Omega Fire Cannon from destroying their home.

"How could he even think to do this…?" Selene scowled at the image of the cannon nearly ready to fire.

"Omega Fire Cannon…FIRE!" Aiden pressed the button, telling the cannon to let loose 50% of the power it can get from Cynthia.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Cynthia let out a loud shriek of pain as the cylinder above her body extracted her flames forcibly. "S-STOP IT! PLEASE STOP! IT HURTS! IT HUUURTS!"

"DAMN IT!" Arc shouted, flying at top speed, he was close, but he just needed a little more time! Just when all seemed hopeless several blue oval shaped magical blast struck the cannon, not destroying it, but damaging it enough to the point where a sufficient delay would happen. "What?!"

"WHAT!?" Aiden looked at the screen, spotting the Blue Pegasus ship, Christina not too far from the cannon itself.

"MEN!" Ichiya grinned. "GO!"

"Heh…crazy parfum smelling bastard…" Arc smirked before ramming his body into the cannon, putting every ounce of strength he could muster, slowly tilting the cannon to the side and up, off point from White Eclipse. However, he was only able to do this for a few seconds until the cannon suddenly fired, the sheer power of the cannon blowing Arc back a great distance, burning the entire left side of his body. The large funnel of fire raced towards White Eclipse…luckily, thanks to Blue Peagus' and Arc's intervention, the cannon was off target, and missed the mountains completely, hitting the area way behind the guild, but the explosion caused an earth quake, and reached out to an 80 mile radius.

.

.

"Holy shit!" Taya and the other members of White Eclipse watched as the large funnel of dark red fire flew over the guild and off into the distance. The earthquake still reached them, but it was nowhere near as bad as the funnel of fire.

"What the hell was that!?" Michio asked, looking around.

"Whatever that was it was aimed at us…" Nami frowned.

.

.

Reve let out a loud sigh of relief as he saw the cannon miss. "Damn, Arc…Thank you…"

"What are we going to do without Arc now…?" Zalen asked, looking towards Reve.

"Arc will be fine…he's Arc, after all, Reve replied, smirking slightly. "He'll be back on his feet soon enough…"

.

.

Erza walked into a large corridor, the walls plated with steel. She looked around, feeling odd around this place. "This place looks just like..." She cut herself off, realizing that it was only true for the outside of the tower.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Heather asked, walking up to Erza from the other side of the corridor.

"You're…Heather…" Erza squinted slightly as Heather came closer, trying to analyze and remember where she's seen the female before. "White Eclipse mage…What are you doing here? Are there other with you?"

"Of course," Heather replied with a nod. "But, I have a more serious question."

"And what's that?" Erza asked, raising an eyebrow to Heather.

"Don't you remember…?" Heather looked up at Erza with a certain look.

"Remember wh…" Erza stopped herself in mid-sentence, her eyes widening as images of the Tower of Heaven flashed into her mind, even more importantly, images of a young Heather, one of her friends during that dreadful experience. "H-Heather…!"

"You remembered…" Heather gave a faint smile.

"Y-You're safe…!" Erza immediately wrapped her arms around her old friend, hugging the female tightly. ""Independence can teach you a few things"" Erza said with a soft voice. "I'm glad you're safe…"

"I'm glad to see you're okay too," Heather grinned, wrapping her arms around Erza just as tight as the two embraced each other.

"You too, Scarlet…" Heather embraced Erza tighter, the two staying silent for a few minutes. All seemed peaceful until Heather's hands slowly started to leak out a toxic missed that filled the air around the two, causing Erza to start coughing.

"H-Heather…What are you doing?" Erza began to cough violently, feeling the poison entering her respiratory system, and she quickly pulled herself away from Heather's grip, bringing a hand to her mouth as she began to coughing. "W-What…?"

A devious smirk appeared on Heather's face as she looked right into Scarlet's eyes. "Independence…what do you think that means?" Erza was unable to respond, she was only able to wheeze and cough uncontrollably as the poison invaded her lungs.

"You're just like those things I call parents, Scarlet. You left me…to fend for myself…you were absolutely right, independence can teach you a few things…" After Heather spoke, she pointed her hands forward, a purple magic circle appearing as she sent multiple poison scales towards Erza.

"H-HEATHER!" Erza's eyes widened in horror as the poison scales came forward. She wasn't scared of the attack itself, but she just remembered that her Adamantine armor shattered after protecting the people of Fairy Tail from Tobias' Meteor Storm attack, and that it wouldn't be fixed for a while. The only thing Erza could do was roll out of the way. "H-How dare you blame me…?! I did everything I could…to allow us freedom…I fought for our independence…" Erza started to cough even harder as she spoke, coughing up small traces of blood from her mouth. "And you think I would purposely abandon you!? I would never…!"

Heather shook her head rapidly from denial. "I don't want to hear it! I think it's time you took a little nap to think about what you did." With that, Heather began to puff her cheeks out, inhaling the poison floating around in the air. "Poison Dragon's Roar…" Heather threw her head forward, unleashing a deadly stream of poisonous gas towards Erza.

Erza knew she didn't have many options left, especially without use of her defensive armor. She coughed violently, feeling her lungs beginning to collapse from the deadly poison as she leaned against the wall for support, bringing a hand up to her chest. The poisonous roar made contact with Erza, and when it faded, Erza was in her Heaven's Wheel armor, feeling her body quickly succumb to the paralysis. So she lifted her to blades up, causing multiple swords to appear over Erza's head, sending them all forward towards Heather. "Heather…I didn't leave you…!"

Heather spread her arms apart, creating a Poison Dragon's Guard to protect her from the incoming swords. The guard proved to be effective, but the last two swords broke through the guard and hit Heather's side, causing two gashes in them. Heather ignored the pain and rushed towards Erza, pulling her hand back as a poisonous claw appeared. "Not only did you leave me…you left all of those people… ALL OF THEM!" Heather swung her poisonous claw, after she screamed out, creating a gash in Erza's exposed stomach, causing Erza to fall to the ground.

"I…I tried to save everyone…I really did…" Erza looked up at Heather, coughing horribly as the poison in her system took over her body completely, leaving her in a state where she was unable to move.

"Failure shouldn't be an option! All those people left there for the rest of their lives, not once getting to know what it meant to be free…" Heather frowned deeply as she spoke, eying the downed Erza.

Erza slowly looked up at Heather, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she bit her lip. "I-I didn't know how many people had not come with me after we broke through the tower and fled…I wanted everyone to escape…but it turned out I'm not even bringing people out to the freedom…I'm sorry, Heather…" Erza hung her head forward, the tears in her eyes falling like a river as she looked down.

There she was...in front of Heather, the mighty Titania broke down. Heather knew Erza was truly heartbroken, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. She felt a tear forming in her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. "I…I just don't want to be alone anymore…" Heather said, pointing her hand forward at Erza.

"Oh, how touching is that…" Tobias appeared from the shadows, clapping slowly at Heather and Erza. "If I knew Fairy Tail and White Eclipse were gonna kill each other like this, I wouldn't have bothered showing up!"

"W-Who are you!?" Heather turned her attention from Erza to Tobias, pointing her hand at him as a purple magic circle appeared.

"Oh, I'm a Tartaros mage, Tobias," Tobias said proudly. "I was the one who destroyed the Fairy Tail building, and nearly killed all of its members without even lifting a finger."

"A Tartaros mage?!" Heather immediately fired off the Poison Dragon's scales over at Tobias.

"Heh…you defeated Titania, eh? Let's see how strong you really are…Magic Guard…" A blue light surrounded Tobias as Heather's poisonous scales hit, creating a small smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Tobias was basically unharmed, not even the poison affected him.

Heather and Erza's eyes widened at Tobias's uninjured body. "B-But how…!?" Heather stuttered, immediately wincing as she felt the pain from the two gashes in her sides. "Tch…"

"That's what you call an attack?" Tobias sighed, tugging his scarf as a red magic circle appeared in front of him. "Flame Dragon," From the magic circle, a large flaming dragon head shot out towards the two girls.

"E-Erza, look out!" Heather dove forward to protect the weakened Erza from the attack…but it was useless, the Flame Dragon exploded on contact, creating a large explosion that shook the first and third floors of tower.

.

.

"W-What the hell was that…!?" Natsu stopped as an uneasy feeling came in the pit of his stomach. "What was that…?"

Even Wendy, who was currently out of her mind, stopped, freezing in place as she looked to Natsu, Carla, and Happy. "S-Something really bad just happened…"

.

.

Warren jumped up, his eyes widening as he attempted to establish a connection with Erza. "Erza…? Erza! ERZA!"

Cana's eyes widened at Warren's failed attempts to call Erza. "Warren, what's wrong!? What happened to Erza!?"

.

.

Tobias turned and walked away, smirking at his work; behind him, Heather and Erza on top of one another on the ground, fatally wounded by the Flame Dragon. In fact...the pair of mages were motionless.


	70. Chapter 70: Cooldown

"Ah, good work, Tobias," Aiden nodded in approval as Tobias walked off from the defeated Erza Scarlet and Heather. "It looks like he isn't just a waste of space after all…"

"E-ERZA…!" Cynthia's eyes widened as she say the motionless Erza on the lacrima screen. "N-NO..!"

"They knew what they were getting into when they came to rescue you," Adien replied to Cynthia. "Tell me…how does it feel knowing that everything happening right now is happening because of you?"

Cynthia's eyes widened a bit more as she moved her head to look up at Aiden, who was slowly pacing back and forth in the room, thinking of what he could do next that required Cynthia's power. "Yes, you. All because your friends cannot accept the fact that you're nothing more than a tool to be used, and you are in no way an individual of any sort." Cynthia flinched from the words as if they actually attacked her.

"B-But…" Cynthia started to object, but she couldn't find anything to say. She was just a tool being used, and the lives of her friends were in jeopardy because they didn't realize this. This is what Cynthia started to think.

.

.

Gray and Waiston tumbled across the snowy ground, their clothes charred, their body covered in intense burn marks from Maggie's lava, weakened slightly from the magic consumption they've done. "Damn…this girl just doesn't quit…" Gray said through heavy pants, unable to help but hunch over.

"At least we're damaging her…" Wasiton replied with a faint smirk, looking over to the moderately damaged Maggie.

"You popsicles aren't as easy to melt as I thought you would be…" Maggie was panting faintly, but she did her best to hide it from the two ice mages, not wanting to show any sigh of fatigue around them.

"Well, I'm all the ice you need now!" Waiston stepped on the ground, causing a glacier to rise into the air and trap Gray, effectively removing him from the battle. Gray didn't even have a chance to object.

"Well now…" Maggie raised an eyebrow over at the dragon slayer. "You think you can beat me without your little frozen friend?"

"I don't think…I know," Waiston gave a confident smirk as he ran forward, somersaulting over Maggie and landed behind her. "Catch me if you can." Waiston then ran off to the west, attempting to lure Maggie away from the tower.

"WH…do you think this is a bloody game!?" Maggie scowled, immediately giving chase to Waiston.

Waiston turned his body around, running backwards as he puffed his cheeks out, "Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston opened his mouth a blue magic circle appearing in front of him, sending a cold vortex towards Maggie.

Maggie mimicked Waiston's actions, her cheeks puffing out as a grey magic circle appeared in front of her. "Ashfall…" Maggie exhaled, releasing the ball of ash towards Waiston's roar, the two attacks clashed before exploding, the ash slowly raining down on the two. Waiston kept running however, easily escaping the ash's radius. "Stand still you bloomin' tosser!" Maggie scowled, giving chase to Waiston once more, at a large clearing in the snow.

"Whew…" Waiston took a few seconds to pant; a bad idea as Maggie swung a heated fist at his face, causing Waiston to fall on his back. Before Waiston could make another move, Maggie placed her boot on Waiston's chest, smirking devilishly.

"Well now, it looks like your ice is just about melted…" Maggie dug in her pocket before pulling out a knife, pointing it towards Waiston's neck. "Any last words, popsicle?"

"Yeah…" Waiston looked over Maggie's shoulder, a wide smirk appearing over his lips. "Freeze."

"What?" Maggie raised an eyebrow, noticing Waiston looking over her shoulder, so she turned around. "What are you…?"

The very tip of the glacier Waiston trapped Gray in shattered, revealing Gray "Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray held a large ice cannon in his hands, pointing it directly at Maggie. Gray fired the large ice cannon, sending a powerful frozen blast towards Maggie, the recoil causing Gray to nearly lose his footing from atop the glacier.

"B-Bloody hell is that!" Maggie's eyes widened as the incoming blast came forward, so she attempted to jump out of the way…but her feet were frozen to the ground. "W-WHAT?!"

Waiston hopped up with a smirk, "Like I said…Freeze…" Waiston's smirk grew wider as he jumped back just as the large ice blast made contact with Maggie, a large icy explosion occurring, creating a large cloud of grey smoke. When the smoke cleared, Maggie was on the ground, her eyes pure white, signifying that she was in fact, KO'ed. "Heh…" Waiston looked up at Gray, giving the fellow ice wizard a thumbs up.

"Not bad…" Gray smirked, the ice cannon fading from his hands as he took a seat, allowing his legs to hang off the glacier as he returned Waiston's sign of victory. "That's what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail…and White Eclipse…"

.

.

"W-WHAT!?" Aiden slammed his hand into the wall after watching Maggie's defeat. "How the hell did they manage to defeat her!?"

Cynthia's eyes widened at Maggie's defeat, suddenly realizing that there was possibly hope. "Heheh…"

"What's so damn funny, child!?" Aiden turned to look at Cynthia, a deep glare in his eyes, but Cynthia seemed to ignore it this time around.

"It's just like I told them before…the best rivals make the best teams…" Cynthia started to chuckle lightly, seeing the faint ray of hope in this dark situation.

"What are you talking about…?" Aiden raised an eyebrow, speaking in an irritated tone towards the young girl, absolutely lost on what she was talking about.

"Heh…I told Fairy Tail and White Eclipse once…that even though they're the worst of rivals…when the time comes for it, they make the best team…Waiston and Gray just took down a mage of Tartaros with their teamwork…I was right…you messed with the wrong guilds…" Cynthia smirked slightly.

"Tch, we'll see about that! That worthless pile of ash has done more than enough for me, so I wouldn't keep that confident smirk if I were you…" Aiden replied, a small smirk of his own appearing.

.

.

Mirajane and Elfman ran into Byron in a large dining hall like room, and the two engaged the mage in battle, only to find that Byron was easily able to handle both of the Strauss siblings with only little trouble. "Blood of the demon, huh?" Byron eyed the moderately injured Satan Soul Mirajane and the knocked out Elfman, smirking slightly at their situation. "You know, I expected the Demon of Fairy Tail to be a lot stronger," With that, Byron held his hand out, a heavenly light appearing as a blood red sword appeared in his hands. "In fact…my blade has been thirsty for your blood this entire time, Demon…" Byron smirked, making the gesture for Mirajane to move forward.

"I'll show you what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail…you hurt my friends, now it's time you paid the consequences." A magic circle appeared over Mirajane as she entered Satan Soul: Halphas.

"Oh, now this is gonna get fun!" Byron grinned, waiting for Mirajane to move forward, which she did. Mirajane's speed increased greatly due to her transformation, and she flew forward towards Bryon, pulling a fist back and swinging it forward.

Byron shifted his body to the left, just barely avoiding Mirajane's punch. "Oh, so close!" Byron then swung his blood sword at Mirajane's arm, causing a laceration over her arm, drawing blood just like Byron wanted. Byron grinned at his sword, then at Mirajane, who pretended as if the pain wasn't anything serious.

"What are you grinning for…?" Mirajane asked, gathering dark energy around her hands.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? This is my Blood Sword, the most powerful sword in my possession," Bryon started. "Whenever blood touches this sword, it absorbs it and gets even stronger…and I just attained the blood of a demon…" As Byron spoke, the sword in his hands turned a darker shade of red.

"Evil Push!" Mirajane threw her arms forward, unleashing the dark energy she was storing towards Byron.

"Heh, you're not worthy of this sword…" Byron held his right arm out, his shield appearing in his hands; holding it out just as Mirajane's Evil Push came in. The attack hit the shield, and it bounced right back, to Mirajane's surprise, striking her. She let out a yelp of surprise as her attack struck her, and she fell down to the ground, passed out in her normal form. "Is it just me or are these fairies pathetic…"

"Tch…you need to stop stealing all the fun…" Horoki walked into the dining room, sighing at the sight of Mirajane and Elfman. "I wanted to take them down. Two Takeover mages? That's a jackpot."

"Meh, quit yer complaining, Horoki," Byron replied, allowing his sword and shield to vanish. "According to that freak of a professor, there are plenty of mages runnin' around here like they own the place…"

"From what it sounds like, the mighty Titania, and two White Eclipse mages are down," Horoki replied, then looked back at the Strauss siblings. "Make those three Fairy Tail mages."

"And for us?" Byron asked.

"Well, from what I heard, it appears the only one to take a defeat so far is Maggie, that Lava mage from Tartaros," Horoki nodded.

"Hm, let's keep our numbers relatively high, eh?" Byron chuckled. "So, who's on our side again…?"

"You are so forgetful…" Horoki lit a cigarette, putting it in his mouth and blowing out a small puff of smoke before answering. "Me, you, Tobias, Kiora, Sora, Volt, Myu, Veronica, and Aloy."

"Oh, so we're pretty much set then?" Byron raised an eyebrow before shaking his head. "Wait…isn't there more Tartaros mages…?"

"They're busy at the moment…" Horoki replied. "I don't think they'll be able to make it to the party, but oh well, they're just missing out."

.

.

"Dammit, now I've lost Mirajne and Elfman too…!" Warren said in a panicked voice.

"W-What's going on with them…!?" Cana's expression was a worried one. "I hope they're all okay…"

.

.

Natsu, Wendy, Happy, and Carla eventually stopped a split in the path, three hallways to go down. "Oh great…" Natsu groaned slightly, feeling irritated at the multiple paths.

"Can't we just fly to the top?" Wendy asked in an impatient tone, bouncing her leg up and down repeatedly as she attempted to sniff the air for Cynthia's scent, but once again she came up short. "Ugh…I can't smell her…"

"Where do we go then…?" Carla asked.

"I'll just pick a path and go with it!" Wendy nodded, starting to run off, but Carla held her back. "C-Carla! Let me go!"

"Not until you calm down…!" Carla protested, using all of her strength to hold the impatient sky dragon slayer back.

"Cynthia's in danger and she needs my help! How can I not be calm!?" Wendy asked, stopping for Carla's sake, crossing her arms and huffing.

"You're not going to get anything done by just roaming around this place! The first thing we have to do is find an elevator or something…"

"Not gonna find anything going this way…" Gajeel and Patherlily walked in from the path to the right. "It just brought me over here," Gajeel said, sighing. "I didn't even run into a mage…"

"So, not to the right…" Wendy calmed her senses, realizing that her worry was probably a reason she wasn't able to sniff out Cynthia. Wendy took a deep breath, closing her eyes slowly as she blocked out all the surroundings, focusing solely on Cynthia's scent. After a few minutes, her eyes shot open and she sprinted down the middle path. "She's this way…!"

"Wendy, wait!" Natsu sprinted after Wendy.

"Gajeel, aren't you going too?" Patherlily asked, looking up at Gajeel.

Gajeel shook his head slowly. "Nah…I'm gonna stay right here…I know something is gonna happen in this spot right here, and I wanna be ready. As for you three…why don't you check out the path to the left…?"

"But Natsu and Wendy need our help!" Happy protested, realizing that he and Carla didn't even bother to give chase to their respective partners.

"They can handle themselves," Gajeel replied. "Giehe…I think it might be a good idea to check over there, Lily, go with them,"

"Right," Lily nodded in response, and he led the Exceed Squad down the left hallway while Gajeel stood in place.

.

.

Selene and Aira looked around a large corridor, Selene more on guard than Aira. "Hey…" Aira said with a slightly serious tone, looking over her shoulder at Selene.

"What?" Selene didn't look at Aira, as her eyes were focused on scanning the area in case someone attempted to attack the two.

"That shaking earlier…that was an explosion, wasn't it?" Aira asked, not bothering to look forward.

"Yeah…that was…I'm a little worried about what it was, to be honest…" Selene replied.

"Maybe we should go check it out…" Aira replied, looking forward now. "I have a bad feeling about it…"

Selene sniffed the air a few times before getting a lock on a scent. "That scent…that's…" Without saying another word, Selene grabbed Aira by the wrist and dragged her forward.


	71. Chapter 71: Alliance

"Juvia hopes Gray-sama is alright…" Juvia slowly wander through a poorly lit hallway, feeling slightly paranoid about what may come out and jump at her, but the water mage kept a determined face. "Juvia must focus on finding Cynthia-san…" Juvia nodded to herself quietly as she continued walking. The light in the hallway slowly improved, giving Juvia a sense of relief. Just when all seemed quiet, a burst of wind flew in Juvia's direction. By instinct, Juvia jumped to the side, watching as the powerful burst of wind destroyed the wall a few feet away. "What…?" Juvia looked in front of her, noticing a mass of guards holding a variety of staffs standing in front of her. "Guards…" Juvia pulled her arm back, turning it into dense water as she swung it forward, slapping a good chunk of the guards away with little trouble. "Water Cane!"

.

.

"It's about damn time the help came…" Aiden sighed as he watched Juvia take on the mass of guards. "God, you'd think these idiots would come a lot sooner…"

"I-Is that Juvia…?" Cynthia's eyes lit up slightly.

"Juvia? Tch, you're guild has some weird wizards…you'd think by now they'd understand that you're just a weapon, nothing more," Aiden replied.

"J-Just a weapon…" The gleam in Cynthia's eyes faded and she frowned heavily.

"Hm…speaking of…" Aiden walked over to the cannon's control, upping the power to 70%. "I think I found my next target…"

.

.

Selene dragged Aira through a specific part of the tower, staying silent the entire time. "S-Selene, where are we going!?" Aira asked, trying to keep her voice as low as possible but high enough so Selene could hear.

"I smell something familiar…!" Selene replied, making a sharp turn down a hallway. When the two made the turn, Selene stopped; her eyes wide at the destroyed corridor.

"W-What happened here!?" Aira's eyes widened as she looked around in the corridor. "S-Selene, look!" Aira pointed to a pair of unconscious bodies.

"That's…Heather…! And…Erza?" Selene and Aira ran over to the two. "They aren't moving…" Selene frowned deeply, biting her lip nervously.

"Wait…" Aira knelt down next to Heather, eyeing the girl carefully. "Heather is still alive…" Aira then looked over at Erza. "I don't know about Erza though…" Aira placed her hands over Heather's body, a soft sea green light emitting from her palms as the two gashes on Heather's sides closing slowly, the pain causing Heather to shoot awake and sit up.

"W-What happened?!" Heather started panting heavily, looking at Selene and Aira.

"We were going to ask you that question!" Selene replied. "What happened to you two!?"

"Two…?" Heather blinked, then looked over at Erza, her eyes widening as she remembered the events that took place. "O-Oh!" Aira didn't wait for an explanation; she just placed her hands over Erza's body and hoped for the best, her hands emitting the same sea green like as before as Aira started to remove the poison from Erza's body. After a few minutes, Erza's eyes slowly opened, and she sat up.

"W-White Eclispe…?" Erza winced slowly.

"Don't move…" Aira said. "At least wait a little before jumping off…"

Erza took note of Aira's words, looked over at Heather for a second, remembering how the girl took most of the Flame Dragon attack for her, which is the reason Erza was still alive. "Warren?"

.

.

Warren was pacing back and forth, panicking due to the loss of Erza, Mirajane, and Elfman. "This isn't good…"

"C-Calm down Warren…I'm sure something just came up…" Cana said in a nervous attempt to calm Warren down.

"Warren?" Erza asked, reestablishing the link with Warren.

Warren's eyes lit up and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Erza! You're okay! Oh thank god! What happened!?"

"A White Eclipse mage and I ran into a Tartaros mage…he defeated us, but White Eclipse's healer saved us…" Erza replied.

"White Eclipse is here?!" Warren's eyes widened slightly.

"What are those bastards doing here?" Cana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Relax, they're…they're on our side," Erza replied. "I can tell they want to help us, and we could use the help. The mages here are very powerful…"

"So, what are you saying?" Warren asked.

"I'm saying to let everyone know that White Eclipse is on our side, and that it's okay to team up with them when needed. No one needs to take a chance on their own." Erza replied.

"Okay, stay safe, Erza," Warren nodded before Erza cut off that transmission. "Hey, everyone, can you hear me?" Warren called out to the active Fairy Tail wizards.

"What is it?" Laxus replied.

"Okay, first off, White Eclipse is here," Warren started.

"WHAT!? Why are THEY here!?" Natsu interrupted. "We don't need their help! And I don't remember asking for it!"

"Natsu, calm down!" Lucy shouted.

"Yeah, chill out, Natsu!" Warren replied. "Erza said they they're on our side, and that if you have to, team up with them."

"You're kidding, right?" Natsu groaned. "I bet we can take all of these mages on our own!"

"Natsu-san…please, let's give them a chance…this is for Cynthia, remember?" Wendy asked.

"Tch…fine…but only for Cynthia," Natsu replied.

.

.

"So…what are we going to do now…?" Aira asked as Erza and Heather stood up.

"We're looking for Cynthia," Erza replied to Aira, changing into her Flame Empress Armor.

"Where do we start looking?" Selene asked, crossing her arms.

"We can split back up into the groups were we in," Heather suggested, rubbing her arm sheepishly. Before anyone could say their thoughts on that, several shadow lances shot out from the other end of the corridor towards the four girls.

"Look out!" Selene's arm turned into a diamond shield and she held it up, taking each and every shadow lance that came their way.

"Selene, are you okay!?" Aira asked, standing next to Selene as she looked forward to see who attacked them.

"That didn't turn out as well as I thought…" Kiora walked forward, dusting her hands off, eyeing Selene's diamond shield with interesting. "Diamonds…?"

"That's one of the ones who kidnapped Cynthia…" Erza brought her sword up, glaring at Kiora, who just gave Erza an innocent smile.

"You two go," Selene replied, changing her other arm into a diamond sword.

"Yeah, Selene and I can handle this one!" Aira said with an excited, yet serious tone.

"Be careful you two…" Heather said, running off.

"Hn…" Erza nodded to the two White Eclipse mages before running off as well, but in a different direction from Heather.

"That wasn't very smart," Kiora replied, slowly moving her fist into her palm, a thick black aura forming around her legs. "Then again, from what I've seen, you legal guilds aren't the brightest…"

"Hmph," Selene glared at Kiora, watching the dark aura around the female's legs carefully.

.

.

Lucy wandered around a large clearing with multiple paths. The celestial blonde sighed heavily and frowned. "I lost them…" Lucy crossed her arms, looking around as she thought about which path to take. "I hope their all okay right now…" Lucy turned, just in time too as several fire balls raced towards her. "WAAH!" Lucy jumped to the side, sliding across the ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop. "Who..?"

"Damn…you're faster than I thought you would be…" Tobias walked forward, standing a few yards away from Lucy, tugging on his scarf. "Oh, I know you! You're the girl from Fairy Tail that did absolutely nothing to stop the kidnapping of your precious Cynthia.

Lucy balled her hands into tight fist, glaring at Tobias. "I couldn't do anything then, but I can do something now! I was chosen to help bring Cynthia back, and that's exactly what I'm going to do!" Lucy pulled out a key, the end of it giving off a bright golden light. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!"

"MOOO!" From the ground, Lucy perverted, yet trusted spirit emerged, his battle axe strapped to his back. "I will do my best not to fail Lucy-sama and her nice body!"

"…That cow's a pervert…she's not even that good looking…" Tobias sighed, shaking his head.

Tobias' comment angered the cow, causing him to take his axe and raise it high above his head. "What did you say about Lucy-sama's body!?"

"That's what gets you angry…?" Lucy then took a minute to realize what Tobias said. "HEY! I AM TOO GOOD LOOKING!"

"MOO!" Taurus slammed his axe into the ground, sending a powerful shockwave towards Tobias.

"Tch," Tobias smirked, jumping to the side, allowing the shockwave to pass him. "I'll give credit where credit is due, that's a strong attack you got there."

"Heh…Let's see how you like this then!" Lucy pulled out another key. "Gate of the scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!" The tip of the key gave off a golden light before Scorpio appeared next to Taurus.

"We are!" Scorpio grinned, pointing his stringer forward at Tobias. "Sand Buster!" Scorpio unleashed a vortex of sand towards Tobias. But before the sand could reach Tobias, Taurus used his axe, allowing the sand to swirl around it.

"Mooo!" Taurus then swung the Sandstorm Axe Aldebaran towards Tobias.

"What the…Barrier…" A faint light appeared over Tobias as he crossed his arms, the combination attack sending him back a few, feet, but he recovered. "Heh…not bad…I almost felt that one…"

Lucy's eyes widened at Tobias, who was seemingly unharmed in her eyes. "B-But how..?"

"Tell me, Lucy," Tobias said, smirking. "What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word magic? For me, it's spells…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing a red magic circle to appear in front of him. "Flame Dragon," A flaming dragon head shot out from the magic circle and towards Lucy.

"We are! Look out!" Scorpio pushed Lucy out of the way, and took the full force of the Flame Dragon, causing an explosion on impact. "W-We…" Scorpio fell to the ground, turning into golden fuzz before returning to the Spirit World.

"S-Scorptio!" Lucy's eyes widened as she stood up again.

"That was…unexpected…" Tobias merely shrugged off the fact Scorpio sacrificed himself for Lucy. Tobias looked up; just in time as Taurus appear in front of him, swinging his axe down at Tobias. "Whoa!" Tobias rolled out of the way, allowing Taurus' ace to hit the floor, shattering the steel floor quite easily. "Down boy!" Tobias smirked, placing his hands on the ground and moved his leg in a clockwise motion, tripping Taurus, causing his axe to fall to the ground somewhere near Lucy.

"EEK! Taurus! Are you okay!?" Lucy looked at the axe, then at Tobias, getting an idea in her head. Lucy ran forward, shifting all of her weight onto one leg. "LUCY KICK!" Lucy swung her leg forward, catching Tobias off guard as her boot went directly into his chin, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

"W-What the hell was that!? You don't let your spirits do all the work?" Tobias rubbed his chin, taking note that there was most likely a bruise on the spot.

"I don't use my celestial spirits as shields!" Lucy smirked as Taurus got up, picking up his axe and stood behind Lucy, hearts in his eyes as he just stared at her butt. "I will fight alongside my spirits!"

"Hm…different than Ruika, I'll give you that much," Tobias started, and then looked at Taurus. "…It's staring at your ass…"

"What?" Lucy turned around, jumping back. "T-TAURUS!"

"Your body is the best!" Taurus commented, grinning madly.

"Now's not the time for this!" Lucy shouted.

Tobias made use of Lucy and Taurus' arguing and smirked, whispering the words, "Aqua Laser," under his breath. A line of water appeared under Lucy and Taurus.

"What the…?" Lucy looked down, her eyes widening. "Taurus look out!" Lucy placed her hands on Taurus' chest, shoving him away as the water forcefully blasted Lucy into the air. "OW!" Lucy landed on her side, wincing every so often. "Ugh…" Lucy picked her head up, only to see Tobias coming in with his leg raised.

"MOO!" Taurus tackled Tobias before he could attack Lucy, causing the spell caster to slide back a few feet, shaking his body out.

"You are a stubborn one, aren't you…?" Tobias sighed.

"I don't forgive those who hurt Lucy-sama's nice body!" Taurus gripped his ace in both hands, swinging it repeatedly. Taurus' assault would've been excellent if Tobias wasn't agile enough to easily dodge each and every swing.

"You're too slow, cow!" Tobias smirked, shifting his body as Taurus swing again. While Taurus brought his hand up, Tobias placed his hand on the spirit's chest. "Raging Blast." A red burst of energy shot out from Tobias' hand, sending Taurus across the room and into the wall.

"I-I'm sorry…Lucy-sama…" Taurus frowned as he returned to the spirit world.

"This isn't good…" Lucy looked up at Tobias, who was fixing his scarf, seemingly without much care for the battle.

.

.

Natsu and Wendy opened a door, stepping into a large room with multiple floating platforms. "Look, Natsu-san!" Wendy pointed up, revealing another door that head higher into the tower. "We're going the right way!" Wendy grinned excitedly, thinking it was only a matter of time before she could see Cynthia again, so she hopped onto a floating platform. "Come on!"

Natsu eyed the floating platform suspiciously, "…I'm not gonna get motion sickness from that, am I?" He asked as his face went pale from the mere thought of motion.

"I don't think so…" Wendy didn't even wait for Natsu; instead she just hopped on another floating platform.

"Oi…" Natsu jumped onto a floating platform, waiting for his body to go weak. After a few seconds of nothing, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Hurry up!" Wendy said in a slightly demanding tone, quite out of character for her, but understandable given the circumstances.

"I'm coming!" Natsu hopped onto another floating platform, and then stopped, sniffing the air. "Wait…"

"What's wrong?" Wendy looked over at Natsu, who kept looking around.

"Someone's here…" Natsu replied, looking around all the room. His eyes scanned the area carefully, eventually stopping at the entrance of the room, seeing a figure on the first floating platform.

Cobra crossed his arms, looking up at Natsu and Wendy. "Natsu…"

Natsu's eyes widened, and then turned into a deep glare. "Cobra…"


	72. Chapter 72: Alliance Part 2

"Shadow Make: Saw," A black magic circle appeared in front of Kiora, shooting out a circular saw that easily ripped through the ground towards Selene and Aira.

"Watch out!" Aira dove to the right as Selene dove to the right, watching as the saw split the ground it traveled before vanishing. "Shadow Make…powerful..."

"Aira, focus!" Selene shouted, jumping to her feet as she ran forward towards Kiora, holding her diamond sword back. When she reached Kiora, she swung her sword rather skillfully at the Tartaros mage. However, Kiora was nimble, as she was able to dodge Selene's slashes with no problem. The only thing Selene managed to cut was a small part of Kiora's clothing, and a strand of Kiora's hair.

Kiora was slightly impressed at Selene's swordsmanship, but she wasn't going admit such a thing. Instead, she brought her arm up, a shield forming on her arm to block Selene's diamond sword. The sword hit the shield, and Selene jumped back, her eyes widening slightly. "Surprised?" Kiora said with a soft giggle.

"What is that…?" Aira asked, standing up straight.

"This is she shield that can defend against anything. The ultimate shield, if you will," Kiora replied. Right after Kiora spoke, the diamond sword on Selene's hand cracked a bit.

"S-Selene…!" Aira's eyes widened as she brought a hand up to her mouth, using her free hand to point at Selene's cracked sword.

Selene's eyes widened as she felt her sword crack, "M-My diamonds…!"

"The Arc of Embodiment allows me to turn my dreams into reality…" Kiora smirked over at the two White Eclipse mages. "I wasn't intending to use this because you didn't seem worthy enough, but I think I can have some fun with you two now…"

"It's my turn now…!" A magic circle appeared under Aira, her body giving off a faint light as her stats increased. Aira then used this to her advantage as she rushed towards Kiora, pulling a fist back.

"Oi…" Kiora shook her head, her shield vanishing as she spread her arms apart. "Shadow Make: Shield!" A wall of darkness appeared in front of Kiora just as Aira swung her fist, hitting it against the shadow wall. Before Kiora could do anything else, Aira jumped back just as Selene moved forward, slashing her diamond sword diagonally on the shadow shield, causing it to disperse. Aira and Selene were oddly in sync, and Aira followed up with a quick kick to Kiora's arm, but Kiora blocked the attack with her forearm, then jumped back a few feet to gain some distance.

"Whoa…did we just…get in sync?" Aira looked over at Selene with wide, excited eyes.

"I dunno…" Selene shrugged, but she kept her eyes on Kiora, who was dusting her forearm off.

"Hm…I remember that Titania doing something like…" Kiora raised her arms over her head, creating multitude swords above her head, all of them pointed towards Selene and Aira. "This," Kiora smirked, throwing her arms forward as she sent the multitude of swords flying towards Selene and Aira.

.

.

Natsu and Wendy stared down Cobra. Both were confused as to why Cobra of all people was here, so Natsu was the one to ask. "Why are you here?"

Cobra stayed silent for a few minutes before deciding to answer, feeling as though he should give the two a fair warning. "I came for the one you call Cynthia," Cobra replied, closing his eye.

"What do you want with Cynthia…?" Wendy asked, narrowing her eyes at the one-eyed male.

Cobra listened to Wendy's thoughts. From what he could hear, she already had an idea on what Cobra might be there for, since he was Cobra after all. "The Council let me out, to come here for one purpose. Because she is a threat to the country of Fiore, and Council Members have decided to stay back, I was sent…to kill Cynthia Viscard."

Wendy's eyes widened after Cobra spoke. The young girl immediately balled her hands into tight fist as her body began to shake. "I…I thought so…" Wendy glared at Cobra, the wind around her starting to pick up. "I won't let you near Cynthia…Not if you plan on hurting her…"

"I knew you were going to say that," Cobra replied, opening his eye slowly as he looked at the young girl. "I've been instructed to use force if anyone were to get in my way."

Natsu pounded his fist together, a magic circle appearing as flames surrounded his body. "You're insane if you think we're gonna let you hurt her!" Natsu yelled at Cobra, jumping from the floating platform with his arm pulled back, fire forming around his fist. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw his flaming fist towards the one-eyed man.

"Tch…you're too predictable, Dragneel…" Cobra simply moved to the side, avoiding Natsu's attack with ease.

As soon as Natsu missed, he landed on the ground on his feet, flames immediately covering his feet as he swung his leg at Cobra's side. "Talons!" Cobra didn't say a word, he simply leaned his body back, avoiding Natsu's attack easily once again.

"You never learn…" Cobra replied, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy jumped from off the floating platform, spreading her arms out, sending sharp winds towards Cobra.

"I can hear you…" Was the only thing Cobra said as he jumped to the side, avoiding Wendy's attack with no trouble.

"HOLD STILL!" Natsu yelled, charging at Cobra once again.

As soon as Natsu yelled "HOLD STILL" Cobra took his hands out of his pockets, gathering the sound into his palm, "Be destroyed by your own voice…" Cobra snapped his fingers, the sound he gathered giving off a high pressured explosion, blowing Natsu away. "Sound Wall…"

"Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy swiped her hand at Cobra, harsh wings following behind her hand, but Cobra leaned his body back, avoiding Wendy's attack. Cobra then threw his leg forward, hitting Wendy's side, causing the sky dragon to fall back, hitting a floating platform just below Cobra.

Natsu jumped up onto high ground while Cobra dealt with Wendy, allowing fire to form in his hands. "Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu jumped into the air, putting his hands together as a large sphere of fire formed over his head; Natsu then hurled the sphere over his head and towards Cobra.

Cobra turned his head as soon as he heard Natsu's voice. "You idiot…" Cobra spread his arms apart, a dark red magic circle appearing. "Poison Dragon's Guard…" A thick wall of poison appeared in front of Cobra, successfully protecting him from the Dazzling Blaze."

Wendy aimed her head upward and puffed her cheeks out, throwing her head forward as she unleashed a sky blue hurricane in Corba's direction from the lower platform. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Tch…" Cobra heard the roar coming from below him, so he jumped onto a different floating platform, watching as the roar shot the former platform into the air. Cobra then placed his hands forward, a dark red magic circle appearing in front of his hand. "Poison Dragon's Scales…" Cobra then released multiple scales that rained down towards Wendy.

"Ah!" Wendy brought her arms up as the poisonous scales rained down on her. Not all of them hit her, but the ones that didn't hit the platform she was standing on, creating a smoke cloud as a result.

"Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu jumped up from behind Cobra, throwing his fire covered fist forward.

"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist…" Cobra turned, meeting Natsu's fist half way as the two clashed, the fire and poison meeting, spreading out on their respective sides. Natsu eventually jumped back, landing on another floating platform to Cobra's right, while Wendy was on the platform to Cobra's left.

"This isn't going anywhere…" Natsu said with a low growl.

.

.

Lucy let out a pained shriek as she tumbled across the ground, her outfit charred from Tobias' Spiral Flare attack. She came to a stop before standing up slowly, panting somewhat. "Ugh…" Lucy shook her head slowly, pulling out another key. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!" The key gave a bright golden shine before Virgo appeared.

"Punishment time, Princess?" Virgo asked with a nonchalant tone.

"N-No! None of that!" Lucy pointed over to Tobias. "Get him!"

"Yes, princess," Virgo nodded, drilling into the steel floor with ease and going underground.

"What…?" Tobias raised an eyebrow at Virgo's question for punishment. "You have some weird spirits…" Tobias then smirked as Virgo made her way underground. "But, they're not as tough as you would think them to be…" Tobias snapped his fingers as a light brown magic circle appeared on the ground. "Ground Dasher…" Several sharp stalagmites shot up from random locations in the ground, one eventually fishing up Virgo, who fell on her back.

"V-Virgo!" Lucy's eyes widened at how easily Tobias was able to fish Virgo out.

"I'm sorry, princess…please punish me for my failure…" Virgo turned into a golden fuzz before returning back to the spirit world.

"W-Wait..!" Lucy held her hand out but it was too late. She's summoned three spirits in this battle with Tobias, and she felt the magic consumption starting to get to her. She panted heavily, unable to help herself from hunching over. "D-Damn…"

"Well, this was fun, Heartfilia," Tobias said as he tugged on his scarf, letting it hang on his chin. "But I think it's about time to finish this…" Tobias smirked as he ran forward, pulling his arm back as darkness surrounded his fist. "Say hello to Scarlet for me!"

"Ah…!" Lucy's eyes widened; Tobias was coming in too fast for her to think of anything to do…the only thing she could do was just stand there, and accept her fate. Just as Tobias threw his fist, a foot slammed into his cheek, causing him to stumble back a few steps, holding his cheek. "W-What!?"

"Who dares…!?" Tobias looked up, spotting an unfamiliar mage.

"Yeesh…" Luke sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Saving you has become a bad habit…"

"Luke!?" Lucy's eyes widened before quickly turning into a deep glare. "What are you doing here!?"

"I figured you would've heard already," Luke replied, looking over his shoulder at Lucy. "Yeesh…this guy fucked you up pretty badly, eh?" Luke let out a tiny snicker.

"I WAS FINE, THANK YOU!" Lucy shouted, crossing her arms. "I still have enough magic power to keep this fight going, so your presence isn't needed."

"Are you sure about that?" Luke asked, looking over Lucy's body once again. "Because to me it looks like it was just about to finish you…"

"You wish! Stop making up excuses and let me handle my own battle for once!" Lucy huffed.

"It's not my fault I literally just happened to come across this room!" Luke flailed his arms around.

While the two rivals argued, Tobias held his hand out, a heavenly glow appearing as a finely crafted sword appeared in his hands. "This is just too easy…" Tobias ran forward towards the two, holding his sword over his head.

"Well I can handle my own, thank you very much!" Lucy practically screamed at Luke.

"WELL…" Luke started, but then he looked back at Tobias, who swung his sword down. "Watch out!" Luke pushed Lucy back a few feet, but it was a futile effort as Tobias hit the ground, causing stalagmites to shoot up from the ground, blowing Lucy and Luke to the side. Luke planted his feet firmly onto the ground, sliding back a about a yard before coming to a complete stop. "Shit…that's not good…"

"Ugh…" Lucy landed on her side, wincing slightly from her injuries, but she stood up, shaking her head as she looked over at Tobias. "I didn't know he could do that…what's with this guy…"

"Is there a problem?" Tobias smirked as his sword vanished into thin air, looking between the two mages.

"Not at all…" Luke smirked, looking straight at Tobias.

"I'm gonna take you down…" Lucy replied to Tobias, pulling out yet another key.

"We'll see about that…The final curtain draws near…Bloody Howling…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing two large black magic circles to appear under Luke and Lucy. The circles quickly turned into a net like pattern, keeping the two mages glued to that spot.

"H-Hey!" Luke attempted to move his legs, but he found that he was unable to. "What the hell is this!?"

"I-I can't move!" Lucy shouted, grunting as she tried to move her body from the net. Before the two could try anything else, a vortex of negative energy shot up violently from the net, a literal wolf's howl emitting as the vortex spiraled up, causing the two mages to let out screams of agony.

"Oh yes, wonderful!" Tobias let out a dark laugh as the two continued to scream. Eventually his attack subsided and the two mages fell to their knees, panting heavily.

"D-Damn…that's smarts…" Luke had one eye shut, and he could barely keep himself balanced while on all fours.

"Ugh…" Lucy coughed violently, bringing one hand up to her side as she winced from the pain.

"Okay…that was cute…" Luke said as he slowly brought himself to his feet, wobbling slightly. "So...Now it's my turn…"


	73. Chapter 73: Lucy and Luke vs Tobias

"Hm…I remember that Titania doing something like…" Kiora raised her arms over her head, creating multitude swords above her head, all of them pointed towards Selene and Aira. "This," Kiora smirked, throwing her arms forward as she sent the multitude of swords flying towards Selene and Aira.

"Watch out!" Aira tackled Selene to the side, evading all but one sword. One lucky sword slashed Aira's back, creating a large cut. "Ugh…" Aira panted, placing a hand on her back, feeling blood leak from the cut on her back. "Ah!"

"Be careful, Aira…" Selene replied, nodding to Aira as thanks for tackling her out of the way. Selene then puffed her cheeks out, a vortex of diamonds forming around her mouth. "Diamond Dragon's Roar!" Selene threw her head forward, unleashing a tornado of sharp, tiny diamonds towards Kiora.

"You really don't learn, do you?" Kiora held her arm out, using her imagination to create the unbreakable shield, and held it in front of her. The diamonds made contact with the shield, but the attack dispersed a few seconds after it hit the shield; Kiora then allowed her shield to fade, smirking over at the two females.

"Sonic Boom!" A magic circle appeared in front of Aira, quickly releasing a powerful burst of air towards Kiora.

"Whoa!" Kiora twisted her upper body, allowing the burst of air to fly right past her body. Kiora then smirked, clapping her hands together as a black magic circle appeared over the two girls. "Shadow Make: Heavy Rain," The magic circle then released a heavy rain of shadows onto the girls, causing them to cry out in pain. "Oh, I love to hear the screams of pain in the afternoon…" Eventually the circle faded, and the two girls struggled to get up.

"Ugh…she's strong…" Selene stood up slowly, allowing her diamonds to cover her entire body, significantly increasing her defensive.

"No kidding…" Aira winced, holding her side. She casted the same magic circle she did before, using it to boost her stats to the limit. "We have to win though…!"

"Right…!" Selene nodded running forward with Aira right behind her.

"You two are stubborn. That's okay, it'll make your deaths that much more enjoyable…" Kiora smirked, "I am the ruler of two. The power of twins resides within me. Repent on thyself and drown in thy blood…" After Kiora spoke this incantation, her arms turned into razor sharps blades, causing the eyes of Selene and Aira to widen from surprise. Without a word, Kiora ran forward, swinging her bladed arms at the two.

Selene and Aira swiftly evaded Kiora's incoming blade strikes, though it was a lot harder to do so than they were making it look. Selene molded her arms into diamond swords, and met Kiora's blades with her own, the two entering a deadlock. The two eventually slid back a few feet from each other, bringing their arms to their sides. Aira jumped into the air, a green magic circle appearing in front of her. "Wind Blade!" Aira shot out several high speed small winds that raced towards Kiora.

"Shadow Make: Shield," Kiora's arms returned to normal as a shadow shield appeared in front of her, blocking Aira's attack successfully, but the wall did crack just a little bit. "Hm…" Kiora placed her fist into her palm, causing a magic circle to appear. "Shadow Make: Shadow Dragon," From the magic circle, a large dragon made from shadows appeared, giving off a loud, earth rumbling, glass shattering roar.

"She's got everything…doesn't she…?" Selene stared up at the dragon in amazement before realizing that now really wasn't the time to be impressed by her opponent's magic. The dragon opened its mouth, forming an orange flame from deep within its throat.

"It's about to roar!" Aira shouted.

"Not on my watch!" Selene placed her hands on the ground, causing a grey magic circle to appear. "Diamond wall!" A large wall of diamond shot up in front of Selene and Aira just as the shadow dragon unleashed its fiery breath, hitting the diamond wall, cracking it, but the wall otherwise stayed firm. The dragon then vanished after its use. "Aira!"

"Right!" Aira pointed her index finger up, causing a black orb to appear over it. The orb grew in size before vanishing, and a magic circle appeared under Kiora's feet. "Black Hurricane!" The magic circle then released a black tornado that engulfed Kiora, the black winds inside lashing out at the embodiment mage. "I got her!" Aira's attack lasted for several minutes before Kiora began to spin around, her arms morphed into blades once more, cutting through the air Aira created, forcing the spell to disperse. "W-What!?"

Kiora panted slightly, Aira's attack inflicting damage on her, but she wasn't going to allow herself to show any sign of fatigue to her opponents. Instead, she smirked slightly, snapping her fingers. After Kiora snapped her fingers, a large serpent descended from the heavens. "Ourubouros the Cosmic Serpent!"

"What the hell is that thing!?" Selene looked up at the giant serpent, which opened its mouth.

"That doesn't look good…" Aira took a step back from the serpent.

"Destroy them…" Kiora pointed her finger forward, and the serpent complied, gathering light energy into its mouth.

"Light magic!?" Aira's eyes widened. Once the serpent gathered an adequate amount of light energy in its mouth, it released a powerful, earth shattering light beam down towards the two girls.

"MOVE!" Selene shouted as she tackled Aira out of the way, the light beam utterly obliterating the ground it touched. "That's a problem…"

.

.

"EYAH!" Natsu spun around, aiming a sharp roundhouse to Cobra's side, but Cobra jumped back onto another floating platform, allowing Natsu to nearly break the one he was standing. "Hold still dammit!" Natsu planted his feet firmly on the ground, and then lunged at Cobra once again, flames surrounding him as he jumped head first, aiming for Cobra's stomach. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Cobra gathered the sound of Natsu's "EYAH" into his hands, but he didn't do anything with it yet. Upon seeing the fire dragon aiming himself towards him, Cobra jumped to the side, onto yet another floating platform, allowing Natsu to ram headfirst into the wall, leaving him stuck there. "I-I'm stuck!"

Wendy was now on a platform above Cobra, watching as Natsu rammed into the wall. Though she winced from seeing Natsu hit the wall, she found herself in an ample position to attack. She jumped off the platform and aimed her leg up as blue wind surrounded her leg, which she immediately aimed at Cobra. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

"Hear this…" Cobra didn't even turn as Wendy approached him, he just stuck his palm out in her direction, letting the sound he gathered from Natsu explode on Wendy, sending her flying back onto another platform.

"U-Ugh…" Wendy landed on her stomach, closing on eye as her vision went blurry. "I won't…give up…as long as Cynthia needs my help…"

"I can tell from your thoughts you don't think of her as what she really is…a weapon…" Cobra replied, tilting his head to look over at Wendy.

"T-That's because she's not a weapon…" Wendy replied, placing her hands on the platform as she pushed herself up slowly. "She's a person…"

"I can hear her thoughts from here," Cobra replied. "You two are not thinking the same thing." Wendy's eyes widened somewhat, wondering what could lead Cynthia to believe she wasn't a person. "I'll answer for you," Cobra said after hearing Wendy's thoughts. "She doesn't believe she is a person because of what's happening right now. Her father's actions and words have pretty much taken away whatever humanity she thought she had. And because of this, she sees herself as a weapon. Which is fine by me…I don't care if she's a person or not, my job is to rid this world of her, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"YOU WILL NOT!" Wendy stood up, but she found herself blasted away by a Sound Wall from Cobra gathering the words she just shouted and using them against her. Wendy landed on her back on another platform, but she stood up again, spreading her arms out. "Arms, Armor, Vernir!" A bright glow appeared around Natsu and Wendy's bodies, upping their stats.

Natsu pulled his head out of the wall, smirking slightly at the power up. "Let's go!" Natsu pounded his fist together, creating an orange magic circle. Natsu then puffed his cheeks out, gathering a vortex of fire around his mouth. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu threw his head forward, unleashing the funnel of fire towards Cobra, its speed and power raised drastically due to Wendy's stat increase on him.

"Tch…" Cobra jumped back as soon as Natsu fired off the attack, already knowing what he was going to do. In the same second, Cobra turned just in time to block Wendy's incoming wind enhanced punch, grunting softly due to the force of it. The two jumped back onto platforms facing one another. Cobra spread his hands out, creating a poisonous mist that slowly started to fill the area, basically telling the two wizards that one, he was starting to get annoyed, and two, it was time for him to start getting serious. Two magic circles appeared by Cobra's hands, immediately firing off poisonous scales towards the two dragon slayers.

"Look out, Natsu-san!" Wendy shouted, using the effects of Vernir to her advantage as she evaded the toxic scales flying in her direction.

"I'm fine!" Natsu replied, evading the toxic scales Cobra was firing off. Cobra continued to fire off toxic scales at the two flying wizards, a bit agitated that they were faster than he normally expected them to be. But he smirked, the two wizards made a mistake. They passed each other, and in that second, Cobra bombarded the two with poisonous scales, a small explosion occurring as the two dragon slayers hit a platform with smoke trailing behind them as they fell.

"Ugh…" Wendy winced slightly, lifting her head, noting that her vision was currently blurred after the impact. "N-Not done…Cynthia needs me…" Wendy groaned, feeling the burning sensation of the poisonous scales all over her body. But she ignored the pain, standing up slowly along with Natsu.

.

.

Cynthia looked up at the lacrima screen, watching all of them carefully. Unfortunately for Cynthia, she couldn't see Natsu and Wendy vs. Cobra, because the room the three were fighting in was the only one without a lacrima screen, so she shifted her attention over to Aira and Selene vs. Kiora, noticing the two white Eclipse mages having trouble. "Selene…Aira…" Cynthia mumbled under her breath, afraid that Aiden would hear her and make her feel even worse about herself.

"Hm…" Aiden was ready to fire the Omega Fire Cannon once again, but he was too interested in the current fights visible on the lacrima screens to fire the cannon. "Interesting…"

"Hn…" Cynthia scanned the other lacrima screens, her eyes stopping when she saw Luke and Lucy vs. Tobias. "Lucy…Luke…" She muttered quietly, remembering that she was constantly telling the two they would make an amazing team if they stopped pretending to hate each other. This was the moment of truth…could they defeat Tobias together?"

.

.

Luke placed his fist into his palm, a chilling wind surrounding his legs. "Ice Make: Lance!" Instead of the normal cyan magic circle appearing, a blue and yellow magic circle appeared as crystalized ice lances coated in electricity flew towards Tobias.

"Tch, Fireball," A red magic circle appeared in front of Tobias, firing off multiple fire balls at the lances. Surprisingly (to Tobias) the lances clashed with the fireballs, causing miniature explosions. Tobias was expecting the lances to be simply overpowered by the fireballs. This just meant Tobias was underestimating Luke, something he would stop doing now.

Lucy pulled out a key, the tip of it giving off a bright golden shine, "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!" A magic seal appeared from the tip of the key, and Loke appeared, fixing his suit.

"Hello, Lucy," Luke smirked, and then turned his attention over to Tobias and Luke. "Which one should I go after this time?"

"We're going for the one that isn't Luke…for now," Lucy muttered that last part under her breath, the pulled out her whip, giving Loke a confident smirk.

"Understood…" Loke nodded, giving Lucy a smirk before rubbing his wrist and activating his Regulus ring.

"You're a stubborn one!" Luke said as he threw a kick to Tobias' face, but Tobias interrupted the kick halfway, blocking it with his forearm.

"You're one to speak!" Tobias used this close range to pull his arm back, throwing a straight jab at Luke's face, causing him to stumble back. Tobias then swung his leg at Luke's side, but he was interrupted mid-kick by Loke slugging him across the face from the side, causing Tobias to stumble back about ten steps before regaining his balance. "What the…?"

"Oh, long time no see…" Luke said to Loke, rubbing his face.

"Yeah…" Loke replied to Luke, eying Tobias carefully.

"Heh…three on one…You legal mages will do anything to win, hm?" Tobias asked with a smirk.

"That's not it at all!" Lucy protested.

"You could've fooled me…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing a green magic circle to appear under Loke and Luke. "Tractor Beam…" The magic circle proceeded to lift Loke and Luke into the air, damaging them on the way up.

"G-Gah! I can't move…!" Luke attempted to break free from the Tractor Beam's grasps, but he was unable to do so, and neither was Loke.

"L-Loke!" Lucy turned her attention to Tobias, pulling her whip back and throwing it forward at him, aiming to wrap it around the male's neck. However, Lucy's plan failed as Tobias jumped to the side, causing the whip to miss. "G-Gah!"

A few seconds passed before the Tractor Beam faded, leaving Loke and Luke to fall onto the ground with a loud "Thud" "Ugh…" Luke groaned, rubbing his head. "Damn…what ELSE can this guy do…"

"Ivy Rush!" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing vines to wrap around Lucy's body, constricting her movement.

"Lucy!" Loke scrambled to his feet, running towards Lucy.

"Too late…" Tobias snapped his fingers once again, causing the vines around Lucy to let out sharp thorns, puncturing multiple parts of Lucy's body, causing her eyes to go wide from the multiple holes; one on her side, her left arm, her right leg, and just below her neck, just far enough from her windpipe to keep her from suffocating. The vines vanished and Lucy fell to her knees, blood dripping from all the wounds.

"Lucy!" Loke slid in, picking up Lucy so she wouldn't put any more strain on her body, carrying her bridal style.

"Too slow, spirit!" Tobias grinned as a clear magic circle appeared. "Blade Rush!" A purple sword shot out from the magic circle towards Loke. Loke luckily dodged the blade but another one came out from the magic circle, and he was in no position to avoid it.

"Mirror wall!" Luke snapped his fingers, causing several grey magic circles to appear in front of Loke, which eventually turned into mirrors, reflecting the blade back to Tobias.

"What?" Tobias jumped to the side, his own blade cutting his side as it passed him. "You..."

"Heh…" Luke smirked as the mirrors faded.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Loke asked, gently setting Lucy down, who stood up, wobbling slightly.

"I'm…I'm fine, Loke…Thank you…" Lucy nodded slowly, wincing slightly from the pain of her injuries.

"Hm…Let's see how you handle this…" Tobias' body gave off a neon green light.

"W-What now?" Luke asked, looking over at Tobias.

"My special ability…Over limit, state two…this allows me to chain link multiple spells in rapid succession…I don't think you'll be surviving this…" Tobias said with a devilish smirk.

"You wanna bet!?" Luke grinned. "Bring it on!"

"Heh…Thunder Blade…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing a purple magic circle to appear in the sky above Loke, Luke, and Lucy.

"Lucy, watch out!" Loke cried out, pushing Lucy out of the way as a giant blade of thunder dropped from the ground near Loke, unleashing a massive discharge of electricity. "AAAHHH!" The thunder blade eventually faded, and Loke fell to the ground, panting heavily.

"L-Loke!" Lucy's eyes widened as she lay on her side. "Go back…" Lucy forced a gate closure on Loke, sending him back to the spirit world.

"Shit…That's not good at all…" Luke groaned, looking over at Tobias.

"I wonder how well you can swim…" Tobias smirked.

"S-SHIT…" Luke's face went pale; if it wasn't obvious, he couldn't swim, and therefore hated bodies of water.

"W-What's he gonna do…!?" Lucy gripped her arm, looking over at Tobias, then at Luke, remembering that he couldn't swim. "Uh-oh…"

"Tidal Wave…" Tobias snapped his fingers, causing a large blue magic seal to appear on the ground. Within seconds, the room flooded over with water spinning violently in a clockwise direction.

"WAAAH!" Luke flailed his arms around while the water swept him around, unable to do anything because he was unable to swim.

"AAH!" Lucy let out a squeal from the damaging water, and then got an idea. "Gate of the Water Bearer, I open thee! Aquarius!" Lucy pulled out a key, and jabbed it into the water; a few seconds passed and Aquarius appeared, an unamused look on her face as she floated in the spiraling water.

"Did you really just summon me in THIS kind of water…?" Aquarius said to Lucy.

"CAN YOU NOT BE ANGRY AT ME FOR ONE SECOND AND ATTACK HIM!" Lucy flailed her arms around, pointing over to Tobias.

"WHATEVER!" Aquarius pulled out her jar, taking control of the water Tobias conjured up.

"W-What the hell!?" Tobias's eyes widened as Aquarius brought all of the water into her jar.

"RAH!" Aquarius swung her jar, unleashing all the water back out, though she was mostly aiming for Lucy and Tobias; Luke just happened to get caught in the cross fire as the tidal wave subsided, Lucy laying on top of Luke and Tobias on the other side of the room, coughing. "Now don't call me again for a week," Aquarius said, fading back into the spirit world.

"W-What was that…?" Tobias groaned, the green aura around his body vanishing.

"Ugh…your fuckin' spirit got me too!" Luke shouted at Lucy, who was lying flat on top of him. "..Get off of me!"

"I can't control that one's attitude!" Lucy replied, instantly hopping off of Luke, who stood up after. "If you weren't here, maybe you wouldn't have gotten attacked!"

"Now listen here…! If I wasn't here, you'd be dead!" Luke shouted back turning his back to Lucy. "You know what, since you don't want me here so badly, I'll leave this battle to you," Luke then started to walk off, taking the exit behind Tobias.

"FINE!" Lucy shouted, looking over at Tobias. "Wait…" She then realized how much of a bad spot she just put herself in. "Tch…I can do this on my own…"

"Can you really?" Tobias smirked, snapping his fingers once more as an orange magic circle appeared. "Fireball," Several fire balls shot out from the magic circle towards Lucy.

"Ah!" Lucy dove out of the way of the fire balls, panting heavily as her injuries from the Ivy Rush started to sting through her body. "Alright…" Lucy took a deep breath, slowly falling into a trance-like state as a holy light flowed around her. She began her incantation for her most powerful attack. The area around Tobias started to darken as planets began to surround him.

"What the…?" Tobias raised a brow as the planets started to surround him, but he wasn't worried. "Magic Guard…" A blue light enveloped Tobias' body, now ready to withstand whatever Lucy was going to throw at him. "Too late, doll face," Tobias said with a smirk.

Luke ran behind Tobias, gripping his arms tightly, immediately cutting off his Magic Guard. "YOU THOUGHT!" Luke smirked, and then nodded over to Lucy. "LUCY, NOW!"

"Urano…Metria!" The planets around Tobias and Luke started to glow a blinding light before detonating, around the two, bathing the area in a blinding light as a large explosion consumed the area. Lucy panted heavily from magic depletion, but she grinned when she saw Tobias on the ground. "I…no…we did it…" Lucy stood up, hunching over.

A few minutes of silence passed before a blue and green magic circle appeared under Tobias, giving off a holy light under him. "Hehehe…You thought…" Tobias stood up slowly, his injuries gone as he healed himself.

Lucy's eyes widened, fear now taking over her body. "W-WHAT!?"

"You were close…I'll give you that…" Tobias held his hand out, his sword appearing in his hand once again. "But not close enough!" Tobias ran towards Lucy, holding his sword out as he went to impale the sword through her.

Lucy couldn't say a word, she just stood there with widened eyes, and weak knees as Tobias came through. Her jaw dropped as the blade rushed towards her stomach. "NOO!" Lucy closed her eyes, accepting her fate…but nothing happened…she opened her eyes, widening them quickly as saw that the blade ran through the person standing protectively in front of her. Luke Cloud.


	74. Chapter 74: Pride of the Copycat

Everyone in the tower froze, even the Tartaros and Silent Sanctum mages. No one made a move… "R-Reve…" Zalen looked up at Reve with a worried expression. "D-Do you feel that…?"

Reve nodded slowly, feeling a chill up his spine. "Yes…I do…"

.

.

Wendy, Natsu, and even Cobra stopped dead in their tracks, the chill traveling up the spines of Natsu and Wendy. "N-Natsu-san…?" Wendy looked up at Natsu with a worried expression.

"I feel it too…" Natsu replied, keeping his eyes on Cobra in case he tried something, but right now, it seemed highly unlikely that he would.

"…I can hear it…" Cobra said, scowling slightly as he could figure out exactly what happened just from hearing the thoughts of those involved.

Heather stopped, looking around as the very same chill that was traveling up everyone else's spine traveled up hers. "W-What…?" Even Cygnus, who was walking to the base of the mountain after killing the giant flaming spider, felt the chill, and he looked up at the tower in the distance, nearly dropping his meatball sub in the process.

Selene, Aira, and Kiora entered a freeze frame in their battle, everything stopping as Selene and Aira felt the cold chill make its way up their spines. The same question entered the mind of very Fairy Tail and White Eclipse mage…"What happened?"

.

.

"H-Hey…" Kuro looked around at the others with a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, Kuro?" Nami asked, looking up at the usually joyous mage.

"You guys felt that too right…?" Kuro asked. Everyone inside nodded.

.

.

Cynthia's eyes widened at Luke's actions; not even she thought Luke would've done such a thing. "H-He…!"

"What…?" Aiden raised an eyebrow, watching Luke and Lucy.

.

.

Tobias attempted to shove the blade through Luke's body, but Luke placed both of his hands on the part that had yet to enter his stomach, attempting to pry it out of him before Tobias could push it through. "L-LUKE..!" Lucy's pupils shrunk along with her surprise, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "W-Why would you…!?"

Luke coughed up some blood, his hands starting to bleed from gripping the blade so tightly. But he let out a light chuckle, though it did in fact pain him. "Heh…I can't believe that child was right this entire time…"

"H-Huh…?" Lucy looked up at Luke, who didn't even bother to turn around; he just continued to fight Tobias' efforts in shoving the blade through him.

"C-Cynthia…" Luke replied, groaning slightly as he felt the blade slowly make progress into his stomach. "T-The damn child was right…"

"R-Right about what…" Lucy asked.

"Y-You know…us…" Luke replied, feeling his grip getting slightly weaker. "I'm pretty bad when it comes to hiding how I really feel…so…I did what I thought was best at the time…I pretended to hate you…When…well…as you can see…I don't…"

"That's cute," Tobias replied, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Now shut up and die!"

"L-Lucy…Run…" Luke let out a soft grunt as he slowly started to pull the blade out against Tobias' efforts to push it through.

"W-What?!" Lucy brought a hand up to her mouth, caught off guard by everyone Luke was saying and doing.

"D-Dammit…you heard me…run! He's too strong for both of us…you have to escape…" Luke replied, taking a step back.

"B-But I can't just leave you like this…!" Lucy replied.

"If you don't run this would've been a waste...!" Luke shouted as loud as he could, grimacing from the pain shortly after. "I don't think…this is one battle I'm gonna win…"

Lucy took a step back, gasping from pure shock. "L-Luke…!" Lucy then winced from her injuries, gripping her arm. "I-I won't leave you…"

"Dammit…you choose now…to be as stubborn as you can be…?" Luke let out a groaned mixed with pain and frustration. "This isn't a game…this isn't about making it up to me…or vice versa…it's just about getting you out of here…!" Lucy took a step back, about to listen to Luke when she put too much weight on her injured leg, pain shooting up her leg and into her body, causing her to let out a tiny shriek of pain before falling over onto her back. "Fuucking..." Luke growled a bit, planting his feet as firmly into the ground as possible, attempting to buy Lucy as much time as he could to escape.

"L-Luke…I can't…" Lucy replied, tears starting to stream down her eyes. "I can't leave you…"

"If I may," Tobias started, impressed that Luke was able to hold on for so long with a blade puncturing his stomach. "It doesn't matter where you run off to, Heartfilia. This is Fiore's End, and if I don't get the chance to kill you, you'll die anyway, because you're weak. You can fight with your spirits all you want; it doesn't change the fact that you're still a weak mage. And you…" Tobias turned to Luke, scowling. "I don't like your kind…a mage that has to copy other mage's magic just to become strong? How pathetic can you get! You are in fact the lowest of the low, and that's coming from a dark mage. How do you feel? You are certainly one of those mages that deserve to die!" As he spoke, he started to make progress, shoving the blade deeper into Luke's stomach, causing him to cough up moderate amounts of blood.

"S-Stop it…!" Lucy shouted, her body trembling from a mix of emotions; she honestly didn't know how to handle this.

"Lowest of the low…huh…?" Luke tilted his head down, his hair creating a shadow over his eyes. "First off…I don't just use other people's magic to become strong…White Eclipse…the people inside keep me strong…they drive me to give it my all and more…Fairy Tail keeps me strong…whenever I lost to one of their mages, I'd just start training harder…I don't like losing to any of those Fairies, and I'll get stronger until I can defeat each and every one of them…because it's White Eclipse or second place…Second of all, Lucy's not weak…she's one of the strongest females I know, and that's saying something…And let me tell you another thing…" Luke looked up at Tobias, a small smirk forming on his blood covered lips. "I'm a copycat…and proud, amigo!" With that, Luke pulled the blade out of his stomach, forming a red magic circle in front of him. "Flame Dragon!" A large, flaming dragon head shot out the magic circle.

"W-WHAT THE!?" Tobias's eyes widened; he only had enough magic power to heal himself and bring out his sword, so the Flame Dragon slammed into him, severely burning his body as he slid back a few feet. "W-What was that!? HOW DID YOU!?"

"Heh…" Luke held Tobias' sword in his hands, completely ignoring the pain in his stomach for the time being. "How many times did we engage in hand to hand combat…? You see, my dear spell caster…Whenever I make contact with someone…I copy their magic…" Luke gripped Tobias' sword tightly, running forward. "HAVE A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICENCE!" Luke attempted to stab Tobias' sword through him, but Tobias caught the sword with body of his hands just as the tip made its way through his stomach; any farther and Tobias would've been in trouble.

"You didn't think that was going to work on me, did you!?" Tobias asked, snarling down at the copy mage.

"What goes around, comes around, amigo! Especially if it's with me!" Luke replied, feeling his body running purely on adrenaline.

"Good luck with that…!" Tobias yelled, smirking as he started to push Luke and the blade away. "I think you just lost your last life, Copycat!" Just as Tobias started to push Luke away completely, a whip wrapped around his neck, constricting his breath and caused his eyes to widen as he brought his hands around the whip in attempt to pry it off.

Lucy was standing firmly, despite the pain shooting all over her body. She had a firm grip on Tobias with her whip, and she wasn't going to be letting gone any time soon. "Luke, let's do it now!"

"Right! Adios, amigo!" Luke plunged the blade into Tobias' stomach just as Lucy pulled Tobias forward with her whip, causing the mage to fall forward, making sure the blade pierced the dark mage's stomach; blood spurting out from the wound and out of Tobias' mouth as his eyes went white, falling onto his stomach, laying in a pool of his own blood with his own sword plunged through his own body, fatally injured; defeated. Luke took a few steps back, grinning at the sight of the downed Tobias. "Yeah!"

"We did it!" Lucy and Luke gave each other a genuine smile, and Lucy raised her hand. "We did it…"

"Heh…" Luke raised his arm, giving Lucy a high-five. "Damn right we did…"

.

.

"T-They beat him…!?" Aiden's eyes widened. "That's not possible! Tobias is one of the strongest mages I've hired! Useless spell casting piece of shit!"

"Heh…I told them…" Cynthia grinned, feeling a sense a pride knowing she was right to believe in those two until the very end.

"This isn't possible…that's two mages from Tartaros down…!?" Aiden groaned, slamming his fist into the steel wall, causing a dent. "How are they doing it!? These mages are much stronger than those Fairy Tail mages and those White Eclipse mages combined….and yet!"

"It's called teamwork…" Cynthia replied. "That feeling of trust between one another…when you trust someone…you can get through anything…"

"That's a lot of bullshit if I've ever heard it…" Aiden sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Wendy…" Cynthia's thoughts drifted over to Wendy, putting her trust in her. Starting to feel like a person again just from watching Lucy and Luke's teamwork.

"Don't trust her too much, now," Aiden smirked slyly. "I doubt she'll be making it here…"

"N-No…don't say that! Wendy's strong…!" Cynthia nodded a few times, biting her lip as her red flames started to flare around her body once again, unable to control them.

"You have a strong bond with this Wendy, don't you…?" Aiden asked, his smirk growing wider.

"D-Don't you dare hurt her!" Cynthia screamed out, her flames darkening as she attempted to break free from her restrains, but she found once again that she was unable to do such a thing, despite how hard she tried.

"Keheheh…" Aiden smirked from ear to ear. "Oh…I won't be the one who hurts her…"

.

.

"I don't know about you…" Luke said, grunting softly. "But after this, I think I'm just gonna go sleep for a week…" Luke took a step forward, and then it all hit him. His eyes widened as the adrenaline flushed itself out of his body, and the agonizing pain in his stomach returned once more. "URK…!" Luke fell to his knees, then onto his back.

"L-Luke…!" Lucy's eyes widened somewhat and she knelt down, catching Luke in her arms before he hit the steel floor, his shirt and jacket stained deep red from the amount of blood dripping from his stomach wound. "H-Hold on…!"

"Heh…ow…" Luke smiled slightly, looking up at Lucy. "Hey…this time you caught me…"

"I-I'm gonna find someone to help you…don't worry…!" Lucy held onto Luke's bleeding hand tightly.

"Doesn't…doesn't seem likely…" Luke replied, coughing a few droplets of blood up, feeling his body get weaker as his vision blurred. "Damn…he really handed it to me…didn't he…? I don't even have any magic left after that last attack…"

"L-LUKE! Stop talking! Save your energy! I promise I'll help you…!" Lucy yelled, the tears streaming down her cheeks once again. "Y-You're not allowed to leave…!"

"Lucy…" Luke smiled softly, doing as instructed and stayed quiet. Lucy looked around for something that could possibly slow down the bleeding, since stopping it seemed unlikely at this point.

"Come on…Come on…" Lucy looked around, chewing on her lip until she thought of something. She gently set Luke down, then rushed over to Tobias' body, and took of his slightly blood stained coat. "Here…" Lucy lifted Luke up slightly, and wrapped the coat around his stomach to suppress the bleeding.

"Cute…but…I don't think it's gonna help…" Luke groaned slightly as his eyes started to close.

"L-LUKE! LUKE NO! HOLD ON! PLEASE!" Lucy screamed.

"Thank you…Lucy…" Luke's eyes closed completely as his breathing slowed down.

"LUKE!" Lucy's eyes widened as the tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably, her body trembling.

"Lucy, what's wrong!?" Warren asked, hearing the panic in her voice.

"L-Luke…" Lucy started.

"Luke!?" Cana shouted. "What about him?!"

"H-He…He's…"

.

.

Cynthia's eyes widened at the sight of Luke, unable to find any words for the situation. Aiden then pressed a button, projecting the video of Lucy and Luke to the areas where the White Eclipse and Fairy Tail mages were. "Take a good look, White Eclipse, and you too Fairy Tail...This is only the beginning..."


	75. Chapter 75: Shadow Control

"LUUUKE!" The White Eclipse members immediately stopped what they were doing, looking up at the screen to see the fatally injured and dying Luke. The Fairy Tail members who saw also did the same, stopping in their tracks, their eyes widened at Luke's critical condition.

"W-What happened!?" Gray and Waiston ran into the front doors of the tower, immediately coming across Warren and Cana, who pointed up at the screen.

"L-LUKE!" Waiston gasped, taking a step back from what he witnessed on the screen.

"What the hell happened!?" Gray asked, placing a hand on Warren's shoulder to get in contact with Lucy.

"H-He…He's dying, Gray!" Lucy replied, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "H-He's dying because of me…!"

"Wait, he's still breathing, right!?" Cana asked.

"J-Just barely…but I can tell it's getting slower by the second…" Lucy replied, keeping a tight hold on Luke.

"We need to find Aira!" Waiston shouted. "Or Wendy!"

"Lucy, you'll have to get him somewhere safe…your current location isn't safe at all…can you move?" Warren asked.

"Y-Yeah…" Lucy nodded, carefully placing Luke's body over her shoulder as she wobbled up, ignoring her leg and arm injuries as she placed Luke's arm around her shoulder, and her arm around Luke's waist. "I can walk him…I remember where to go…" Lucy then slowly made her way out of the room, causing the lacrima camera to cut off, along with the communication.

"What are we going to do?" Gray asked, looking over at Cana, Waiston, and Warren.

"I'll go find Aira!" Waiston nodded, sniffing the air a few times to get a lock on Aira's scent. "Damn…she's kinda far away, I'm gonna have to hurry…" Waiston then sprinted down a path.

"How's that lava girl?" Cana asked, looking over at Gray.

"Heh, we froze her," Gray replied with a smirk as he walked to a path. "I know we're not done with these scum yet, so I'm going on to see what I can find," Gray nodded once more and walked down a path.

"Guess that leaves us again," Cana sighed slightly, feeling left out of the action.

.

.

"L-LUKE!" Selene and Aira's eyes widened at the sight.

"W-What did he do!?" Aira asked, her eyes as wide as possible as she covered her mouth.

"Seeing Tobias fuck up…AGAIN…" Kiora said with a nonchalant tone, completely dismissing the fact her own guild member was in dire need of medical attention.

"It looks like he saved Lucy…" Selene replied, clenching her fist. "That idiot…was putting his life out there like that…"

"We have to hurry up and beat this one so I can go heal him!" Aira shouted.

While the two girls were conversing about Luke and his critical status, Kiora used this time to place her fist into her palm, bringing it to her side slowly as a dark, gloomy fog surrouned her legs. "Shadow Make: Lance," Kiora threw her arms forward, causing a black magic circle to appear in front of her, shooting off multiple dark lances towards the two girls.

"WAHH!" The two girls realized that they let their guard down just as the dark lances hit them, causing them to slide back across the ground, panting heavily.

"Hurry up and beat me?" Kiora asked with a slight sadistic giggle. "That's cute…"

"We have to!" Selene replied, sucking in a deep breath and immediately opening her mouth after, unleashing a large vortex of tiny diamonds in Kiora's direction. "Diamond Dragon's Roar!"

"Did you forget?" Kiora asked, the unbreakable shield appearing over her arm once again, Selene's roar slamming into it, leaving not a single scratch.

"T-Tch…that damn shield…" Selene said, clenching her teeth in annoyance. If she and Aira could get past that shield, that would make the battle turn for their benefit; that's what Selene thought at the moment.

"W-What is this woman…" Aira asked, wincing slightly as she hunched over, her hands on her knees as she took heavy breaths.

"I am the fatal embodiment," Kiora replied with a sadistic grin. "Ouroborous; get rid of them." The serpent nodded to its creator, opening its mouth once more as a holy light began to form in its mouth.

"Aira; split off!" Selene shouted.

"Right!" Aira nodded, turning to the left as Selene turned to the right. The two went to jump off to the side, but for some reason they couldn't, their shadows weren't allowing them to. "What!?" Before anything else could happen, Ourobourus unleashed the powerful light blast, slamming into the two girls with a large explosion, sending the pair rolling back across the ground, landing on their stomachs.

"Ugh…What happened!?" Selene groaned, placing her hands on the ground as she slowly picked herself up along with Aira.

"It's like…my shadow wouldn't let me move…" Aira replied, wincing as she brought a hand to her side.

"KIIIOOORAAA—CHAAAN!" A young girl who looked to be around the age of 15, with pink hair and blue eyes cheerfully ran up to Kiora. The little girl was also wearing blue jeans, a grey shirt, and blue sneakers.

"Sora, nice to see you," Kiora looked to the girl with a smile.

"Is Kiora-chan playing with those girls?" Sora asked, pointing over to Aira and Selene. "Sora wants to play too!"

"Oh, by all means," Kiora grinned. "We can all play together…"

.

.

Happy, Carla, Patherlily stealthily made their way through the passage Gajeel suggested they go through. Happy made sure to keep himself as close to Carla as possible without her shoving him forward. The three exceeds also felt the cold chill, causing them to shiver. "W-What was that…?" Carla asked, looking around. "Is someone here…?"

"I-I don't know…" Happy replied. "B-But if there is, I'll protect you, Carla!" Happy nodded. "Aye!"

"Whatever the case may be, it would seem wise that we don't attract too much attention," Lily replied to both Happy and Carla. "They'll all be able to handle themselves, so we should be worried for our wellbeing."

"He's right," Carla nodded.

Happy nodded once again. "Aye! The three exceeds then continued their trip down the hallway before stopping in front of something. "Hm…hey, what's what…?"

.

.

"W-What was that…?" Natsu asked, looking around the area wildly.

"I-I don't know, Natsu-san…" Wendy replied.

"You two felt it…" Cobra said calmly, closing his eyes. "I heard it…"

"What happened?!" Natsu asked, turning his head to glare directly at Cobra.

"Luke," Cobra replied, listening to the conversation between Cana, Warren, Gray, Waiston, and Lucy.

"What about Luke-san?" Wendy asked, keeping an eye on the thin layer or poison floating around in the top of the room, ready to move in case Cobra used this distraction to attack them.

"Lucy was fighting a Tartaros mage by the name of Tobias," Cobra continued, listening in to Wendy's thoughts on the side. "The battle wasn't going so well for Lucy by herself, and then Luke came in. The two argued, but eventually managed to down Tobias. It seems as though Tobias got up, and aimed his sword into Lucy, but Luke took the hit instead. From what I hear, Tobias is down, but Luke is dying."

"W-What!?" Natsu's eyes widened. "H-He put himself on the line for Lucy…!?"

Cobra nodded before taking his hands out of his pocket. "See the pain she's causing…?" Cobra asked, directing his question to Wendy.

"THIS ISN'T CYNTHIA'S FAULT!" Wendy shrieked, offended that Cobra would dark push the blame of Luke's possible death onto Cynthia. However, a large pressure of sound exploded around Wendy due to Cobra using his Sound Wall, blowing the girl back onto a floating platform. "H-How dare you…blame this one Cynthia…" Wendy stood up, holding her side, opening her mouth as she started to eat the air around her, regaining her lost magic energy.

"You're in denial," Cobra simply replied.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu came in from Cobra's left, a flaming fist pulled back.

"Idiot…!" Cobra turned, bringing his forearm up just as Natsu swung his fist, blocking the hit.

"We're not letting you anywhere near Cynthia!" Natsu shouted, throwing wild punches towards Cobra's body.

"Tch!" Cobra swayed from the punches. Because Natsu was in somewhat of a rage, his thoughts were clouded, so Cobra wasn't able to hear them as clearly. But this didn't stop the deadly poison dragon from evading each and every punch Natsu threw, blocking the last one with his left forearm once again. "You never learn…" Cobra placed his free hand on Natsu's stomach. "Sound Palm…" An invisible force pushed Natsu away from Cobra, and into the wall, leaving him stuck there. Cobra turned, his eye widening somewhat as Wendy came in with an arm pulled back. "What…!?" Cobra leaned back as Wendy swung her arm, a harsh trail of wind trailing after her swipe. "I didn't hear her coming…!"

Wendy jumped back to gain some distance, puffing her cheeks out as she did so. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy opened her mouth, unleashing a large hurricane towards Cobra.

"…I see…" Cobra jumped back onto a floating platform to his right, allowing Wendy's roar to explode on the former platform he was standing on. "Thinking about Cynthia…I think it's time I finished playing around then…" The fabric on the arms of Cobra's jacket started to deteriorate as poison started circling around his arms, turning them into purple, scaly, dragon-like arms. Cobra now activated his Dragon Force. A magic circle appeared in front of Cobra as he crossed his arms. "Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust…" Two poison lines in the shape of an X shot out from the magic circle and raced towards Wendy.

"Ah!" Because Wendy had yet to land, she had to twist her body awkwardly in the air, narrowly avoiding most of Cobra's attack, but her side was struck by it, and she felt her side go numb almost immediately.

Natsu pushed himself from the wall, planting his feet on it as he aimed himself directly at Cobra, smirking as flames and lightning started to surround his body. Natsu pushed himself from the wall as he lunged at Cobra head first. "Lighting Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!"

"You idiot! I can hear you!" Cobra didn't even turn as Natsu came flying in, he simply waited a few seconds before jumping to the floating platform to the right, allowing Natsu to crash into where he was standing, creating a minor dust cloud. When the smoke cleared, Natsu was standing on his feet, a little dizzy from the impact, but he didn't allow it to faze him as he looked at Cobra, a smirk forming on his lips. "Lightning Flame? You obtained this power from Laxus, I see…"

Wendy allowed the wind to pick up around her body, red flames flaring from it as she looked down at Cobra, sucking in a deep breath as a vortex of sky blue wind and red fire formed around her mouth. "Roar…Of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" Wendy threw her head forward, unleashing a massive funnel hurricane of wind and red fire towards Cobra.

"What?!" Even though Cobra could hear it clearly, it still surprised him. Cobra jumped up as the roar hit his former location, but the explosion threw him off course slightly, but he still managed to land on the floating platform he was aiming for, regaining his balance before he could be taken off guard. "Omega Flame Sky…you ate her flames?" Cobra raised a brow as poison started to emit from his body, slowly filling the enclosed area.

"This is about to get fun…" Natsu grinned, looking up at Cobra as the fire and lightning danced brilliantly around his body.

"I hope you're ready, Cobra…" Wendy glared at the poison dragon, who crossed his arms, giving a wide smirk at the two, his fangs showing.

"Can you hear it…the sound of your defeat…?"

.

.

"I wonder how the others are doing…" Warren asked aloud, looking over at Cana.

"I'm sure Natsu and Wendy are fine!" Cana replied with a grin, holding her deck of cards in one hand. "We also have Erza, Mirajane, and Sparky. There's no way we won't be able to do this!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Warren nodded.

"I'm sure they'll let us know when the coast is cl-" Before Cana could finish speaking, a lava whip wrapped around her and Warren's neck. Cana dropped her cards as a result; turning around to see who it was that got her. "W-What the!?"

"You didn't think a little ice would stop me, now did ya?" Maggie smirked as she used her arms as the whips, her body giving off a bright red glow as her body temperature increased.

.

.

"Shadow Make: Lance!" Kiora threw her arms forward, sending a multitude of shadow lances towards Aira and Selene. The two girls quickly jumped to the side to avoid the incoming lances.

"That's no fun!" Sora twirled her finger, manipulating the lances to turn around, striking the girls from behind, causing them to let out screams of pain as they rolled onto the ground. "This is more fun!"

"Ugh…this isn't good…" Selene said quietly, realizing that she was hitting her limit soon.

"We have to do something…fast…" Aira winced as she stood up, wobbling slightly to keep her balance.

"Shadow Make: Demon," Kiora placed her fist into her palm, the same dark, chilly aura from before appearing again. A black magic circle appeared as a large shadow demon walked out of it, standing next to the cosmic serpent. "Finish them off," Kiora ordered with a smirk. The demon nodded, looking down at the two girls as it raised one of its sharp claws.

Selene quickly looked around the room to see if there was anything she could use to defend herself from the demon; her eyes stopped when she laid eyes on a small brown leather bag a few feet away from her. "My diamonds…!" Selene thought to herself. Selene always carried a bag of diamonds around with her, and they were normally used for situations such as this. "They must've fallen out when I got hit earlier…" Selene scrambled to her feet, lunging out for bag of diamonds just as the demon brought its claw down.

"Selene!" Aira's eyes widened as she gasped; as much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew Selene wasn't going to make it in time.

"Crap…!" Selene grabbed the bag, but she didn't have any time to pull out a diamond as the demon brought its hand down, so all she could do was close her eyes and wait for the impact…that never came. "Huh…?" Selene opened her eyes and looked up, her expression brightening when she saw a male holding off the shadow demon's claw. "Tak!"

"What the hell?!" Kiora raised an eyebrow.

"This is a nice shadow you have here…!" Tak said with a smirk, holding his ground as the large demon attempted to crush him and Selene. "It would be a shame if someone…ate it…" With that, Tak opened his mouth, starting to inhale the shadowy demon, leaving no trace of it after about ten seconds.

"H-He ate it!?" Sora's eyes widened slightly from surprise.

"What!?" Kiora's tone now had a bit of annoyance to it.

"I owe ya one, Tak," Selene nodded, pulling a two diamonds out of the bag. She promptly placed the two diamonds in her mouth and began chewing on them, swallowing them after a few seconds, feeling her magic energy restored. "Heh…what would Salamander say in this situation…?"

Takeru smirked, a black magic circle appearing under him as he entered his Shadow Drive. "I'm all fired up." Takeru then puffed his cheeks out. "Shadow Dragon's Roar…!" Takeru threw his head forward, unleashing a shadow blast towards the two mages.

"Tak, no!" Aira shouted, but it was too late.

"Oh, this looks fun!" Sora waved her finger, redirecting the roar around and back to Takeru, causing his eyes to widen.

"What!?" Takeru and Selene jumped to the side, allowing the roar to pass them.

"Shadow manipulation, Tak!" Aira shouted.

"Tch, I control the shadows, not some little girl…" Takeru sneered.

"Let's play a game then!" Sora replied cheerfully. "If the shadows consume you, Sora wins!"

"Tch, we'll see about that!" Takeru rushed forward, forming a shadow katana in his hands.

"Ourobourus," Kiora replied, pointing over at Takeru. The serpent's complied opening its mouth as a holy light formed between its lips.

"Ha!" Takeru merely smirked, hurling his Katana into the serpent's open mouth; the blade impaled the serpent's mouth, causing it to give off a loud cry of agony before falling over onto its side.

"Diamond Dragon's Roar!" Selene opened her mouth, unleashing a vortex of diamonds upon the downed serpent, causing it to give one last cry of pain before vanishing into thin air.

"There's more where that came from!" Kiora snarled, her temper starting to rise since the two mages continued to fight. Her temperature quickly halted as she realized that their deaths would be more enjoyable to her if this fight were to continue. With Sora now at her side, Kiora knew this fight wasn't going to be lasting much longer. "I think it's time I stopped messing around with you…"

Aira leaned against the wall, panting as she left the battle to Selene and Takeru until she saw an opening. "S-She's toying with us…!?"

"Like hell she is," Takeru replied, allowing his shadow to cover the entire corridor. "Shadow Dragon's Rage!" Multiple miniature shadow dragon claws popped up from the shadows.

"This looks fun!" Sora squealed with excitement, twirling her finger around in a clockwise motion. In that instant, the claws turned, rushing towards Selene and Takeru.

"What!?" Takeru snarled, obviously annoyed and angry that Sora was manipulating HIS shadows. Takeru and Selene took damage from Takeru's attack before the two jumped off to opposite sides; Takeru quickly dispersed the attack, growling at Sora. "Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Takeru opened his mouth, sending a heavy blast of shadows at Sora once again.

"Whooo!" Sora twirled her finger, causing the Shadow roar to flip around in a loop-d-loop, even though Takeru stopped breathing.

"W-What's with this girl!?" Takeru asked, watching the little girl play with his roar like a toy. Sora then redirected the dense shadow over to Selene.

"Selene, watch out!" Aira shouted. But it was too late, the shadow roar crashed into Selene, causing a shadowy explosion.

"Selene!" Takeru's eyes widened.

"Well, I think that takes care of one…" Kiora snickered. But after a few seconds, an inhalation sound filled the room. "W-What the…?"

"That sound…" Aira started, remembering that very same sound when Wendy ate Cynthia's flames.

"She's…!" Takeru said with wide eyes. When the shadows died down, Selene's diamond shield was gone. In its place, diamonds scales covered her body, but the scales were covered in shadows that flowed from her body, her eyes giving off a bright white light.


	76. Chapter 76: Diamond's Shadow

Natsu coughed as the poison Cobra let off started to invade his respiratory system, but he managed to stand stall since it was only a little bit. Natsu formed an orb of electricity in one hand, and an orb of fire in the other. Natsu jumped into the air, holding his arms apart before bringing them together. "Dazzling Blaze of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu formed a blaze of fire and lightning over his head, and then hurled the sphere towards Cobra.

"It doesn't matter how strong your attack is," Cobra said calmly, dropping from the floating platform he was on and onto the one below. "If it can't hit, it's worthless."

"Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Radiant Hurricane!" Wendy shouted, causing a large red magic circle to appear under Cobra. She then started to cough slightly from the poison entering her system. "What is it with me and poison…?" Wendy coughed.

"Tch, I can hear everything!" Cobra replied, jumping to a floating platform to the side just as the magic circle unleashed a large flaming hurricane. "Your attacks are useless against me!"

"Secret Dragon Slayer Art!" Natsu jumped in the air, appearing right in front of Cobra with an orb of fire and lightning in his hands once again. "Lighting Crimson Lotus Blade!" Natsu spun around, aiming the powerful attack towards the poison dragon slayer.

"Poison Dragon's Guard!" A thick wall of poison appeared in front of Cobra, blocking the attack. However, Cobra underestimated Natsu's power just a bit, so Natsu's attack blew through the poison guard, sending Cobra back onto a different platform. "Tch…I won't make that same mistake twice…"

"Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy jumped from above Cobra, red fire and harsh winds surrounding her leg; Wendy quickly swung her leg down at Cobra, who crossed his arms to soften the blow of the attack, grunting just lightly from the force of it. Wendy jumped back, puffing her cheeks out, unleashing a quick, yet powerful Omega Flame Dragon's Roar towards Cobra at the close range. Cobra knew it was coming, but he didn't have too much room to react after Wendy jumped back, so he formed a weak Poison Dragon's Guard in front of him, the guard taking the brunt of the attack, giving Cobra time to jump back onto another platform.

Natsu took advantage of Cobra jumping back, lunging at the poison dragon with his fist pulled back, fire and lightning surrounding it. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!"

"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist!" Cobra pulled his arm back, a thick poison forming around it as he threw his fist at Natsu's, the two meeting in the middle, causing a large shockwave that boomed throughout the entire area, the force so powerful it blew both dragon slayers back onto different platforms.

Natsu started to cough as his body went numb, and from the poison invading his immune system slowly, but surely. "D-Damn…I don't know how much longer I can keep this up with this poison floating around all over the damn place…"

"M-Me too…" Wendy panted, coughing every so often. "B-But I can't let him win…We need to beat him so we can go up and rescue Cynthia…!"

"Wendy, I have a plan…!" Natsu grinned slightly, looking over at Wendy as he started to whisper something. Cobra just stood there, wondering how stupid Natsu could possibly be because Cobra was hearing everything. "NOW!" Natsu jumped in the air, puffing his cheeks out as he aimed at Cobra.

"Right!" Wendy also jumped into the air, right next to Natsu, puffing her cheeks out. "Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Roar of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu and Wendy opened their mouths, unleashing their respective powerful roars, the two roars eventually fusing together for a very powerful unison raid. Not only this, but the two were going to alter the roar's direction if Cobra were to dodge.

"You idiot!" Cobra heard every single detail of Natsu and Wendy's planned, and jumped in the air, over the roar as he landed on a platform way behind Natsu and Wendy. "I can hear everything!" Cobra then lunged forward, gripping the back of Natsu and Wendy's heads, immediately cutting of their unison raid as they let out a shout. "There's one thing you forgot! You can attack everywhere but behind you!" Cobra then slammed Natsu's head into a platform harshly, causing a large smoke cloud. As for Wendy, he slammed her against the wall as they fell, then threw her onto a platform, forcing Wendy out of Omega Flame sky as she laid on her back, wincing.

"N-No…how could it not work…" Wendy coughed, sitting up slowly as her body started tingling.

"Because I could hear everything you planned on doing before you even did it," Cobra replied, gripping Wendy by her neck, pulling his hand back as a thick poison aura surrounded his free hand.

"W-WENDY!" Natsu attempted to move, but his body finally chose to succumb to the current numbness, making him unable to do so.

"N-NO…NOT HERE!" Wendy's eyes widened as tears started to form in her eyes. "NOT NOW!"

"Don't worry, you'll be seeing each other again very soon…" Cobra replied, throwing his arm forward.

"E-ERIK! STOP!" A voice from the bottom of the room shouted.

Cobra immediately stopped, his eyes widened at the sound of the voice. He dropped Wendy and looked around. "T-That voice…!"

"Erik…?" Natsu blinked a few times, unfamiliar with Cobra's real name. Kinana made her way up the floating platforms to Cobra's level as quickly as she could, stopping when she saw the three.

"K-Kinana-san?" Wendy panted heavily, tilting her head to look over at Kinana. "W-What are you doing here…how did you get here…?"

Kinana shook her head, ignoring Wendy for the time being as she looked at Cobra. "Erik…don't do it…"

Cobra stared at Kinana, amazed that he was able to see her again, but then her question shocked him. "I was told to use force on whoever got in my way, she was in my way, so I have to-"

"No you don't!" Kinana objected, extending her left arm out to her left. "You don't have to do this!" Cobra opened his mouth to speak, but Kinana interrupted him before he could even say a word. "Listen to her thoughts about Cynthia…then think about what it felt like when…"

Cobra blinked a few times, doing as his old friend told him to do, and closing his eye as he listened to Wendy's thoughts about Cynthia, then compared those thoughts to his own memories, letting off a gentle sigh after. He was just doing what he was told; in actuality he didn't want to kill Wendy; Natsu maybe. "…."

"Erik…Why don't you help them…?" Kinana asked with a hopeful tone.

"Help…/them/? That's not my job…" Cobra replied.

"You can…" Kinana said in a sweet tone. "At least one mage…? Please…?"

"Tch..." Cobra sighed before turning around, jumping on the platform Natsu was on, and threw him over to Wendy. "Fine…just this one time…I suggest you leave this room as soon as possible…I can hear an annoying voice coming…"

Wendy placed her hands on Natsu's body, a gentle light emitting from her palms as she healed Natsu's wounds. After Wendy finished, she inhaled the air around them to make herself feel better. "Kinana-san…?"

"I'll be fine here," Kinana replied.

"Oi…thanks…" Natsu nodded over to Kinana before hopping to the stop of the room with Wendy, finally making progress as the two ran off.

"Thank you, Erik…" Kinana said with a soft smile.

"Don't mention it…seriously, don't…" Cobra replied.

.

.

"S-SHIT!" Cana felt the burning sensation of Maggie's whip around her throat, unable to reach for her cards as the lava mage had Cana and Warren in a dangerous situation.

"L-Let us go!" Warren attempted to struggle free from Maggie's grip, but he was unable to do so.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll get go…eventually," A sadistic smirk appeared on Maggie's lips as her grip only tightened.

"D-Dammit…!" Cana screamed out, but her scream was cut off by Maggie's increasing grip.

"Sssh, love…it'll all be over soon…" Maggie said in a hushed tone, watching as the two fairies fell onto their knees, struggling for air; before Maggie could continue with her enjoyment, two pillars of earth wrapped around her body, constricting her movement. "T-The hell is this!?"

"Massive Card Explosion!" Several cards flew to Maggie, staying suspended in the air around her, glowing brightly before exploding, causing Maggie to release her grip on Cana and Warren, who gasped desperately for air. Jack walked from the corner, smirking widely. "You two okay?"

"It's you…" Cana grabbed her deck of cards, standing up along with Warren.

"That's right! Jack Royal's here!" Jack grinned, his cheeks pink from the alcohol he consumed from wandering around aimlessly in the tower.

"Jack Royal…?" Warren blinked a few times.

"He's a mage from White Eclipse," Cana replied. "And not too bad a drinker…"

"You…bloody…" The explosion caught Maggie off guard, and she felt a few of her bones broken from the attack. "Those stupid popsicles…" Maggie clenched an eye shut as she used the wall to support her.

"My turn now!" Cana smirked, throwing a few cards on the wall beside Maggie, snapping her fingers as a similar explosion happened; not quite as strong as Jack's but strong enough for Maggie to let out a scream of pain, falling over to the floor in KO once again. "Heh!"

"That was too close…" Jack replied, examining Maggie's body. "She could've done some serious damage if you didn't hit her just then…"

"What are we gonna do if she wakes up again?" Warren asked, looking over at Jack.

"I think this should do…" A magic circle appeared on Jack's feet, and he stepped on the ground, causing pillars of earth to appear, wrapping themselves around Maggie's unconscious body. "That should do…hopefully…"

.

.

"W-What the hell is that…?" Kiora eyed Selene in her Diamond Shadow mode curiously.

"She ate my shadows…WHAT'S WITH EVERYONE CONTROLLING MY SHADOWS LATELY!?" Takeru blurted out before realizing that this was actually a good think. "Wait…"

Selene didn't marvel at her new dual mode just yet, instead she wanted to see if it would be able to be of use. Selene opened her mouth; a vortex of black diamond's forming around her mouth. "Roar…" Selene threw her heard forward, aiming right for Kiora and Sora. "Of the Diamond Shadow Dragon!" Selene unleashed a black vortex of diamonds and shadows towards the two female mages.

"Shadow Make: Shield!" Kiora conjured up a shadow wall in front of her and Sora, Sora using her Shadow Manipulation Magic to expand the shield, making it stronger. Selene's roar slammed into the shadow shield. The shield held for a few seconds before shattering, blowing the two Tartaros mages back a few feet. "Shit, that's some power…"

"Guess it's my turn…" Takeru smirked, half of his body turning jet black as the other half remained its normal color. "White Shadow Dragon Mode…"

"Shadows?" Sora only grinned, not seeing the two Dragon Slayers as an immediate threat since she had control over the shadows, though the young girl wasn't 100% sure she could control everything the two Dragon Slayers could throw at this point.

"Holy Blast!" Takeru charged up a sphere of light energy in his hand, and then hurled it over at Kiora and Sora.

"What?" Sora's eyes widened, surprised that the shadow dragon slayer could use more than shadow dragon slayer magic, so the light magic caught her off guard as it exploded, sending her back a few feet.

"Watch it!" Kiora shouted, placing her fist into her palm as a black magic circle appeared. "Shadow Make: Lance!" Shadow lances launched from the magic circle towards the two Dragon Slayers. Sora used her shadow manipulation to increase the size and power as they rushed forward.

"White Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Takeru threw his head forward, firing off a large funnel of white and shadow energy, clashing with the lances for a second before overpowering them and rushing towards Kiora.

"Nothing to worry about!" Kiora placed her arm out, using the arc of embodiment to conjure up the unbreakable shield, allowing the roar to make contact with his harmlessly; however Kiora was pushed back just a few inches. "Tch…"

"That shield is a problem…" Aira groaned, looking around the room for any possibility of taking out that shield. She smirked slightly, looking towards the ground.

"Hey, Selene," Takeru said, a smirk forming over his lips.

"What, Tak?" Selene asked, looking over at Tak.

"Unison Raid?" Takeru asked, his cheeks puffing up once again, slowly.

"Heh…" Selene smirked, puffing her cheeks out. "Roar…"

"Sora, get behind me. After this attack we'll finish them off here," Kiora said.

"Okay, Kiora-chan!" Sora happily stood behind Kiora and her unbreakable shield.

"Of the White Shadow Dragon!"

"Of the Diamond Shadow Dragon!" The two Dragon Slayers released their roars, the two of them merging in the middle and rushed towards Kiora and Sora.

"Black Hurricane!" A large black magic circle covered the area just behind Kiora and Sora, causing a hurricane to shoot up from it, easily destroying the ground behind the two Tartaros mages, causing Kiora to lose her footing.

"W-Wah!" Sora held onto Kiora, not wanting to fall.

"S-Shit…!" Kiora stumbled back, causing her to lose focus on her unbreakable shield. Horrible time on her part as the unison roar slammed into her and Sora, causing Kiora to fall back into the pit the hurricane created, most likely heavily damaged, near the point of KO. Sora didn't fall in the pit, but she was lying face down on the ground, not as damaged as Kiora, but pretty damaged.

"W-We did it!" Aira grinned, falling to her knees from magic consumption.

"D-Damn…" Selene exited her Diamond Shadow mode, falling onto her back. "T-That was rough…"

"Tch…" Takeru leaned against the wall for support, exiting out of his White Shadow mode.

Sora stood up slowly, wobbling to keep her balance as she glared up at the three mages. "You hurt Kiora-chan..." Her eye twitched as her head tilted in a creepy manner.

"S-She's still moving...!?" Aira gasped.

"Let's...finish...this...game," Sora grinned slowly, giving the three worn out mages an innocent look.

"S-Shit..." Selene moved to take a step back, but she was unable to because her shadow was stuck to the ground. "M-My shadow...!"

"M-Mine too!" Takeru snarled, attempting to break free from Sora's control.

"I-I can't move...!" Aira groaned. Before any of the three mages could do anything else, their shadows rose from the ground, and started to attack the mages by throwing wild punches at them. "A-Ah!"

"W-What the hell is going on!?" Takeru shouted, covering up to protect himself from his shadow's brutal assault.

"O-Our shadows are attacking us, that's what!" Selene replied, allowing her diamond shield to cover her body as her shadow mercilessly attacked her. The other shadows from the room started to come together, starting to form a large demon in behind Sora, who still had that innocent, playful, yet sadistic look on her face.

"This is fun, right?" Sora asked slowly, her grin widening.

"T-There's no way we'll be able to take much more of this...!" Aira squealed from the pain.

"Fun!" Sora said, slowly walking forward with the demon of shadows behind her. Before Sora could move any farther, several golden waves of gravity exploded around her, weighing her down. "W-What?"

"Woo!" Cygnus flew through the wall, a grin on his face. "Glad to see I didn't miss anything!"

"Cyg?!" The three mages shouted.

"What about that spider!?" Selene asked, feeling relieved that her shadow stopped attacking her and the other two.

"Oh, it went down easy; catching up was the hard part," Cygnus replied. "I stopped to get a meatball sub on the way."

"Of course..." Takeru groaned.

"So, this little girl's been giving you trouble?" Cygnus turned to look at the heavily damaged Sora. "Yeesh, put a number on each other, didn't you?"

"Careful, Cyg!" Aira shouted, panting heavily.

"I got this!" Cygnus smirked, running towards the weighed down Sora.

"Shadow Manipulation!" Takeru shouted.

"Shadow what?" Cygnus looked back to look at Takeru; as he did so, his shadow rose in front of his and aimed a harsh punch to his jaw, causing him to step back. "W-What the hell!?"

"Sora controls the shadows!" Sora grinned, even though she was unable to move due to the heavy force of gravity, she obviously didn't need to. Sora's shadow spread out in front of her, forming a large spike that rushed towards Cygnus.

"Well...that's pretty unlucky..." Cygnus rolled out of the way of the incoming spike, watching as it returned back to Sora. "For you," Cygnus smirked.

"Huh?" Sora moved her eyes to look up at Cygnus, confused by his sudden confidence.

"Eclipse Trigger..." A white aura' surrounded Cygnus as he entered the third state of his God Trigger. "Try it now!" Cygnus said, slowly walking forward as his cheeks puffed out.

"Sora will!" Sora attempted to manipulate Cygnus's shadow to halt his movement, but nothing happened. the demi-god continued moving forward, causing Sora's eyes to widened. "W-What?! Why can't Sora...!?" Sora looked at Cygnus's feet where his shadow was suppose to be, only to gasp when she realized something. Cygnus didn't have a shadow.

"Heh..." Cygnus opened his mouth, sending a large wave of gravity towards Sora, the gravity's power greatly increased due to his Eclipse Trigger. "Gravity God's Bellow!" Sora was still weighed down from the gravity before, so she extended her shadow to form a wall in front of her, but it was a feeble effort as the Gravity God's Bellow easily broke through the wall, sending Sora through a wall; KO'ed.

.

.

"Kiora? And Sora too?" Aiden hit the wall once again, his anger starting to rise at the failure of Tartaros. "What the hell is going on here!? UGH!" Aiden decided he had seen enough, so he went over to the control panel for the Omega Fire Cannon.

"N-No! Please don't fire it again!" Cynthia pleaded.

"Shut up!" Aiden replied, making sure the coordinates were set. "This time, Magnolia Town."

"N-NO! NOT MY HOME!" Cynthia pleaded once again, whimpering as the cylinder hanging above her body started to glow, the tower letting off a low hum that echoed throughout the building.

"YES, YOUR "HOME!"" Aiden cackled before regaining his composure. "I don't know where that came from...Anyway...FIRE!" The cylinder sparked unnaturally before shorting out, exploding after. "W-WHAT THE!?"

"F-FIRE!" Cynthia opened her mouth, inhaling the flames from the explosion. "I can do this...!" Cynthia attempted to break herself free, but she quickly found that even this time it was to no avail. "D-Dammit..."

"What the hell happened!?" Aiden looked at all the lacrima screens he had planted around the tower, unable to see anything out of the ordinary.

.

.

Lily had his sword drawn, smirking at the destruction of the Omega Fire Cannon's main source of energy withdrawal. "Good eye, Happy," Lily said with a smirk.

"AYE!" Happy grinned, feeling proud that he was the one who led Lily and Carla to the cylinder's controls.

"Now we can focus on getting to the top," Carla nodded, crossing her arms.

.

.

Lucy slowly walked Luke through a hallway, limping with every step she took due to her leg injury. Luke's breathing was light; she could barely feel his chest moving. Unfortunately, Lucy herself wasn't in a very good position. She was exhausted from magic depletion, her injuries were slowing her down, and she was fighting to stay conscious. "J-Just a little bit longer…" Lucy mumbled to Luke. A few minutes passed before Lucy stopped at the middle of the hallway, spotting a girl with black hair on one side and white hair on the other approached her. The female also had one blue eye, while the other was black and red. "W-Who are you…?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy Heartfilia?" The female asked, reaching to her side as if she was grabbing something.

"Y-Yes…who are you…?" Lucy asked once again.

The female pulled out a celestial spirit key, a dark grin sewed onto her lips. "My name is Ruika Celestia, and I've come for your keys."


	77. Chapter 77: Silent Sanctum Remains

Lucy's eyes widened at the stranger before her, taking a step back, wincing from her leg injury. "M-My keys?!"

Ruika nodded, smirking as the key she held in front of her started to glow. "That's right; I'm her for your keys. Every. Single. One."

"W-What do you want with my keys?!" Lucy asked, realizing how bad her situation really was at this point.

"I want them," Ruika replied as the key gave a brighter glow. "Gate of the warrior, I open thee! Orion!" A magic circle appeared in front of Ruika, and a male looking to be about 19 appeared in front of her.

"C-Celestial Spirit Mage…?" Lucy's eyes widened slightly as the male appeared.

"I'll make you a deal," Ruika said. "Give me your keys, and I won't kill Luke."

"W-WHAT!?" Lucy raised her voice to almost a shriek, surprised that anyone would have the nerve to make such a deal. "B-But…!"

"Oh?" Ruika smirked slyly at Lucy's reaction. "So, you're saying you'd just let him die?"

"T-That's not what I'm saying…!" Lucy replied. "B-But I can't just hand over my keys…!"

"If it saved the life of the one who risked his to save yours, would you?" Ruika asked, smirking to herself at Lucy's reactions to her manipulations.

Lucy looked over at Luke, who was still barely breathing. Lucy knew she could barely put up a fight in her condition, but she wasn't going to hand over her keys so easily, and especially at the expense of Luke's life. "You're not taking my keys," Lucy said in a stern tone.

"You don't really intend to fight, do you?" Ruika asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not that I don't mind finishing you off right here, but look at you. You can barely stand, and you're carrying around dead weight. I've never seen a stupider person in my entire life."

"I agree with Ruika!" Orion chimed in, quite unnecessarily.

"I don't have that much magic power left…" Lucy thought to herself, looking down at her keys. "Loke, Taurus, Scorpio, Virgo, and Aquarius aren't ready for battle again either…" She then looked over at Luke. "And Luke's in critical condition…and then there's my injuries…" Lucy started to realize that if she were to fight, she had a very high chance of losing. "Dammit…"

"So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Ruika said, looking at Lucy for a response.

Lucy carefully set Luke down in a sitting position against the wall, looking at Ruika as she reached out for a key she hasn't used yet, holding the key out in front of her as it began to shine. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" A magic circle appeared as Sagittarius appeared. Lucy panted as she felt how much magical energy that took from her already dangerously low amount.

"I am here to assist you, moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius said with a salute.

.

.

Two bolts of lightning clashed continuously in a large, square shaped room. Claps of thunder booming out every time the bolts clashed. Laxus landed on his feet, somewhat bruised as he faced off against a male with black hair, an open jacket revealing his bare chest, and white pants. He was more bruised than Laxus was, but he stayed silent. "I know my own magic anywhere," Laxus replied. "Lightning Dragon Slayer…"

"Voltaire Dyanmo..." The male replied, causing Laxus to raise a brow.

"Oh, so you can speak," Laxus said, smirking slightly as sparks started to dance wildly around his body.

"Sometimes the silence…is more deadly…" Voltaire replied, allowing the sparks to dance around his body as well, smirking over at Laxus.

"White out!" A blizzard-like snow fall raced towards Voltaire, catching the static slayer off guard, causing him into the wall, his movement suppressed by the heavy amount of snow. Jaxon smirked, walking beside Laxus.

"I was wondering if one of you would show up," Laxus smirked slightly over at Jaxon.

"Sorry I'm late," Jaxon replied.

"Well, let's wrap this up anyway…" Laxus replied.

.

.

"What the hell happened to the cannon!?" Aiden glanced around, glaring as the Omega Fire Cannon's controls shortened out and exploded, causing the scientist to take several steps back.

"I don't know, but I'm not complaining!" Cynthia replied with a grin.

"Tch!" Aiden growled, unable to find a response for this, or Cynthia's annoying attitude. "You…don't get so cocky just yet! This was just a fortunate malfunction for you. I can fix this easily from here," Aiden replied, looking up at the lacrima screens, raising an eyebrow at what he saw. "What? What is Ruika doing here? She's not supposed to be here…Daityas is going to have her head…" Aiden then glanced around at the other screens, his eyes widening at what he saw. "What?! Voltaire is down as well!? UGH…And I see that Wendy and Salamander are the only one's actually making progress…"

"Wendy's coming…!?" Cynthia's voice lit up with excitement.

"She's coming, but that doesn't mean she's going to get passed him…" Aiden replied, smirking slightly.

"W-who's him?!" Cynthia asked, her heart pounding from nervousness at the thought of Wendy getting severely hurt, or worse.

"Oh, don't worry, my dear," Aiden said. "You'll find out soon enough." He then looked up at the screens once more, gritting his teeth as he saw Juvia defeat Myuu, and Gajeel landing the finishing blow, an Iron Dragon's Roar, defeating Horoki. "You're kidding…!?" Despite the string of victories the mages seemed to be having, he did notice that they were all beaten, battered, bruised, and running low on magical energy. "Tch…that water woman easily defeated all my guards and Myuu…That only leaves Byron, Veronica, and Aloysius…"

.

.

"Natsu-san, why do you think Kinana-san was here…?" Wendy asked, leading the way up a long flight of stairs.

"I don't know, but she helped us out, so I can't complain," Natsu replied, scowling at the fact he was unable to beat Cobra once again. He didn't even land a direct hit.

Wendy pointed her nose into the air, sniffing for Cynthia's scent once again, her face lighting up with hope when she noticed the scent was getting stronger for every flight of stairs they made it passed. "W-We're getting close! I think once we reach the top of these stairs we won't be too far from her!" Wendy said, kicking it into high gear as she sprinted up the stairs, Natsu following right behind her.

.

.

"Aira, Cyg, Selene, Tak!" Waiston ran up to the four mages, panting heavily. "Oh man, I'm so glad I found you all!"

"Waiston? You beat the lava girl? Nice!" Cygnus grinned, putting his hand up for a high five.

"No time for that!" Waiston panted. "Luke's in serious trouble!"

"We saw!" Selene replied, leaning against the wall. Though she had magic power, her body was exhausted from her fight with Kiora and Sora.

"Wait, what's up with Luke?" Cygnus asked, looking around.

"He protected Lucy and now he's on the edge of death, that's what!" Aira replied.

"Aira, I can sniff him out from here. If we hurry, do you think you can heal him?" Waiston asked hopefully.

"I…I only have a little bit of magic left…" Aira replied, panting. "That battle took a lot out of me…"

"A little is all we need…" Selene replied, looking over at Aira.

"Where is he right now…?" Aira asked Waiston, Selene, and Takeru, since the three had an acute sense of smell. Waiston sniffed the air a few times before pointing in a single direction. "He's over there!"

.

.

"Are you serious about this?" Rukia asked, watching Orion defeat Sagittarius. "I'm TRYING to make this quick, since I have somewhere ELSE I'm supposed to be right now."

"D-Dammit…" Lucy gripped her arm, taking a step back, realizing she had no magic energy left to summon another spirit. "T-This isn't good…"

"So, I'll take your keys, kill you, and go off on my way?" Ruika asked, taking a step forward until she was face to face with Lucy.

"N-No…" Lucy took a step back, wincing from her leg injury. "Y-You're not getting my keys…and you're not getting me either…"

"Hm…Alright, then let's do this…" Ruika pointed over to Luke. "Orion."

"Yes, Ruika!" Without hesitation, Orion held a sword over Luke.

"N-NO!" Lucy took a step forward, but she then fell to her knees, groaning from the pain of her former injuries.

"Give me your keys, and I'll call Orion off," Ruika replied, looking over at Lucy with her hand held out, expecting Lucy to fold under the pressure.

"I-I can't…" Lucy replied, gripping her keys tightly to her person, looking over at Luke. "Leave him alone…please…"

"I don't do please," Ruika responded, and then looked over at Orion. Orion raised his sword, and then swung it down at Luke.

"NOO!" Lucy shrieked.

"Yah!" Gray expelled ice from his hand, catching the blade Orion swung down without injury to his hand.

"What?" Ruika turned, surprised that Gray was around.

"G-Gray!" Lucy's eyes lit up with excitement.

"What the…!?" Orion jumped back, looking over to Ruika.

"I wasn't expecting the ice fairy to be here…" Ruika said to herself. "Doesn't matter…"

"Hey, look, over there!" Waiston shouted from the other side of the corridor, breaking into a sprint along with Takeru, Cygnus, Aira, and Selene, stopping when the saw Ruika. "Huh?"

"Who's that…?" Selene raised an eyebrow, and then spotted Luke resting against the wall. "Luke!"

"Great…" Ruika rolled her eyes, groaning from annoyance. "I'm not gonna be able to do what I want with this crowd…" Ruika pulled out another key. "Gate of the bat, I open thee! Batto!" A magic circle appeared from the shining key, causing a humanoid bat to appear. "Batto, let's go," Ruika said. Batto scoffed at Ruika before creating an illusion that lasted a few seconds. When the illusion faded, Ruika, Orion, and Batto were gone.

"…What was that all about?!" Gray asked, looking over at Lucy. "And what the hell happened to you!?"

"L-Long story…" Lucy sighed, her body relaxing since she felt comfortable with all these mages around.

"Luke!" Aira rushed over to Luke, placing her hands over his body as she used the last of her magic energy to heal Luke's wound, the hole in his stomach closing, leaving a scar.

"G-GAH!" The pain of the wound closing caused Luke to shoot awake, panting heavily. "D-Damn! What the hell happened! It feels like a sword nearly punctured my stomach…!"

"That's because a sword nearly did punctured your stomach you idiot!" Lucy shouted as Gray covered Lucy's wounds with ice. "What were you thinking!?"

"I wasn't thinking!" Luke replied, attempting to move, but found it too painful to move from his sitting position. "D-Damn…"

"Don't move," Aira said. "I was only able to close the wound…and it's still too serious for you to move too much…"

"You idiot…" Selene huffed, crossing her arms as she turned away from Luke.

"…So…what did I miss…?" Luke asked, grinning goofily.

"Selene, Aira, Tak, and I defeated two really powerful Tartaros mages," Cygnus said with a smirk.

"Heh…who else is left?" Luke asked.

"I dunno…" Waiston replied. "But Gray and I defeated that lava girl!"

"We cooled her down," Gray said with a smirk.

"Has anyone seen Natsu?" Lucy asked, looking around. "Wendy ran off so suddenly, and Natsu followed behind her. I ran after them, but then I got lost…and then ran into that mage…"

"Natsu? I haven't seen that flaming idiot anywhere…" Gray replied.

"He and the sky dragon slayer are even higher in the tower," Takeru said, pointing up.

"He and Wendy got higher!?" Lucy shouted. "That means they're close to Cynthia!"

"Yeesh…with all this fighting for our lives, you forget we're doing this for the little girl…" Luke groaned.

"Is everyone else okay?" Lucy asked, looking towards the group of mages.

"I don't think I can handle any more movement…" Selene replied, dropping to her knees on the ground. "Too exhausted…"

"Same…" Aira fell on her stomach, panting heavily from the lack of magic.

"I can…keep going…" Takeru grit his teeth as he took a step forward, only to lean on the wall for support after the first step. "D-Damn…"

"I think we're all too exhausted to go on…" Waiston replied, sitting down on the ground after.

"Guess we're just gonna have to leave it up to the others…" Gray said, lying on his back on the floor.

"I wish we could see what was happening…" Luke groaned, placing a hand over his gut. "Oi…Lucy…"

"Huh…?" Lucy looked over at Luke with a confused expression.

"Thanks for keeping me alive, somehow," Luke said with a small grin.

.

.

Erza walked into a large room with a skylight, looking up at the dark sky. "I can break that sky light and reach the top quickly…" Erza smirked slightly, requiping into her Black Wing Armor.

"Now, now, Titania," Byron said, walking into the room from the opposite entrance of the room, holding a hammer in both of his hands. "It's not nice breaking things that ain't yours."

Erza turned her head to look at Byron, a glare forming on her face. "You're one to talk, destroying Fairy Tail and all," Erza replied, unable to hide her obvious anger that her home was destroyed, pointing her sword at Byron.

"Meh, technically that was you guys and Tobias," Byron shrugged. "But, I have one question for you."

"What's that?" Erza asked, keeping her guard up.

"Are you ready?" Byron grinned, holding the hammer in his hands high above his head. "For the big bang?"

.

.

"Hey!" Veronica walked into the room with the floating platforms, unamused when she saw Cobra and Kinana. "You're not the sky dragon!"

"…Your voice annoys me…" Cobra replied, completely ignoring Veronica's comment.

"Where is she!?" Veronica huffed, forming a ball of poison in her hands.

"She's ascending this place," Cobra replied. "Now stop talking."

"YOU STOP TALKING!" Veronica hurled the ball of poison over at Cobra.

"Idiot…" Cobra gathered the sound from Veronica's shouting, but before doing anything with it, he opened his mouth, inhaling her poisonous sphere completely. "Hm…thanks for the meal, I suppose…" Cobra then snapped his fingers, causing the sound he gathered earlier to explode on Veronica, causing her to yelp.

"H-HOW DID YOU!?" Veronica shook off the impact and hopped on a floating platform.

"I can hear you…" Cobra simply replied, gesturing to Kinana to find some safe ground because this fight sounded like it was going to get hectic.

"Oh?" Veronica lifted her hand up, grabbing Cobra with her telekinesis.

"W-What the…?" Cobra was caught off guard for once, grunting as Veronica slammed him into the nearby wall.

Kinana's eyes widened slightly. "E-Erik…!"

"You may be able to hear me, but that doesn't mean you can stop me~"


	78. Chapter 78: Sanctum's Silence

"On guard, Titania!" Byron jumped into the air, bringing his hammer down towards Erza.

"You'll pay for destroying Fairy Tail!" Erza jumped to the side just as Byron brought his hammer down; however she wasn't expecting the large explosion that followed after, sending her stumbling over to the side. "An explosive hammer…?"

"That's right!" Byron grinned, swinging his hammer towards Erza's side.

"Tch!" Erza jumped into the air, utilizing her Black Wing Armor's flight to avoid Byron's strikes. "Requip mage, I should've guessed…" Erza thought to herself before flying towards Byron, pulling her powerful sword back. "Take this!" Erza swung her sword down at Byron.

"Heh, Kanso!" Bryon switched his hammer out for a green sword and the same shield he used against Mirajane and Elfman. Byron placed his shield up front just as Erza swung her sword, sending the force back at Erza, causing her to fly back.

"W-What the…!?" Erza stared at Byron's shield. "Just like Dan Straight's Richochet…you can reflect any attack back…"

"Ah, the holder of Ricochet and Habaraki, yes," Byron replied. "Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. My reflector shield is a million times better than his shield!"

"Is that so?" Erza replied, a heavenly light bathing her body as she turned into her Flame Empress armor.

"Of course!" Byron grinned, letting his shield vanish as he held up his green sword. "This here is my Wind Edge! I'll just say this, Titania. This is one requip mage you won't be able to beat!"

"I'm going to defeat you!" Erza shouted, lunging forward with her flaming sword held back.

"Bring it, Scarlet!" Byron grinned, swiping his Wind Edge at the air, sending multiple sharp winds towards Erza.

"What!?" Erza quickly stopped, bringing her sword up in a defensive position as the sharp winds slammed into her, causing her to slide back a few times. "What the…?" Erza shook of the impact, and then dashed forward, swinging her flaming sword horizontally at Byron's chest.

"Too slow!" Byron jumped back; narrowly avoiding Erza's slash, and then gripped his sword with both hands. "Wind Blade!" Byron swiped the Wind Edge sending a sharp blade of wind towards Erza, but she somersaulted to avoid it, now in the air.

"Kanso!" A heavenly glow surrounded Erza's body as she appeared in her Thunder Empress Armor, immediately swiping the electrically charged spear at Bryon.

"Shit…!" Bryon brought his Wind Edge up as a tiny defense as the electricity flowed through his body, shocking him for a few seconds before regaining his senses. "Whew! Not bad, Titania, but not good enough!" Byron's sword vanished, and in its place power gloves and boots appeared on his hands and feet. "Let's dance!" Byron swung a fist towards Erza, smirking.

Erza brought her staff up for defense, grunting at Byron's fist made contact with it…but the spear shattered only after a few seconds, causing Erza's eyes to widen. "W-what?!" Before Erza could react, Byron slammed a powerful right hook into Erza's jaw, sending her spiraling into the nearby wall, causing a smoke cloud to appear.

"Something wrong, Titania!?" Byron asked with a cocky smirk.

When the smoke cloud cleared, Erza was standing in her giant's armor, deciding it would be best to match physical strength; because she couldn't take the chance of Byron breaking another one of her weapons like he just did. "Just fine!" Erza replied, lunging forward towards Byron with a fist pulled back, immediately throwing it forward as she neared Byron.

"Oh, this'll be great!" Byron threw his fist forward, meeting Erza's in the middle; the power of the two causing a loud shockwave that gave a thunderous boom, shaking the entire room. Byron then aimed his leg towards Erza's side, but she caught it with her free hand, smirking slightly as she hurled Byron into the sky, changing into her Black Wing Armor once more, and flying into the air with her sword held back. "Not so fast!" A heavenly glow surrounded Byron's arm, putting up his reflector shield just as Erza slashed. Erza waited for the impact, but nothing happened; While Erza was temporarily distracted, Byron swung his power infused fist into Erza's face, sending her crashing into the ground. "HEH!" Bryon landed on the ground, holding his shield out in front of him. "Surprised, are we?"

"Kanso!" Erza jumped from the smoke in her Flight Armor, two swords in her arms as she used her enhanced speed to try and catch the skilled requip mage off guard by running around him in circles, her speed so great she left after images.

"Speed trick, huh?" Byron pointed his shield in a particular direction, closing his eyes as he listened for Erza's footsteps. "…FOUND YA!" Byron released the energy the shield had pent up, slamming right into Erza, and causing her to stumble back a few feet.

"T-Tch…!" Erza tried her trick once again, only this time she moved in a zig zag pattern, swiping at Byron with her swords when she got close enough. Byron was nimble, so he was able to avoid the slashes with ease, only a few of them cutting his clothing, but nothing more.

"Too slow!" Byron slammed his powered fist into the ground, causing a shockwave that blew Erza away, causing her to hit the wall with her back, letting out a grunt.

"H-He's no joke…" Erza thought to herself, standing up slowly as she winced.

"But you are!" Byron grinned, giving Erza the gesture to come at him.

.

.

Cynthia's stomach rumbled loudly, causing the young girl to whimper lowly. "I need food…I'm hungry…"

"Too bad," Aiden replied, working on the Omega Fire Cannon's repair.

"I need food…" Cynthia replied, sniffling because it had been hours since she last ate. "Why did you do this today…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aiden asked, raising a brow.

"Today's Wendy's birthday…" Cynthia replied with a low, weak voice, tears forming around the corner of her eyes.

"And I'm supposed to care?" Aiden shrugged off, looking up at the lacrima screen once again, seeing the final matchup he could. "Titania vs. Byron…where the hell is Veronica and Aloysius…Wait…" Aiden looked at another screen, spotting Wendy and Natsu making their way to the top of the stairwell. "They're close…"

"W-Wendy…!" Cynthia perked up as she felt Wendy's scent enter her nose.

.

.

Cobra jumped off the wall, puffing his cheeks out as a magic circle appeared. "Poison Dragon's Roar!" Cobra opened his mouth, unleashing a wave of poison towards Veronica.

"Wall!" Veronica spread her arms out, creating an invisible wall that blocked Cobra's attack. "Nice try, snakey!" Veronica replied with a smirk. "I've fought too many dragon slayers to not know how they work!"

"This is annoying…" Cobra groaned, standing on a floating platform.

"Is that your friend?" Veronica asked, pointing over to Kinana. Cobra read Veronica's thoughts, his eyes instantly widening at what he heard her planning. "I'll take that as a yes…" Veronica smirked slightly, using her telekinesis to lift both Kinana and Cobra into the air.

"W-What are you doing!?" Kinana asked, attempting to break free from Veronica's grip.

"Just bringing you two…" Veronica crossed her arms, slamming Cobra and Kinana into each other, causing both of them to grunt. "Closer together." Veronica's actions had Cobra seething; how dare she have the audacity to do such a thing!? He thought.

Though Cobra was in Veronica's grip, he could still open his mouth, and he did just that, "Poison Dragon's Roar…" Cobra unleashed a vortex of poison towards the preoccupied Veronica.

"C-Crap!" Veronica cut off her telekinesis to cover up from the poisonous roar, but it was too late, the roar slammed into her, but she didn't take any external damage. "Well…that was weak…"

"The poison will eat you from the inside out…" Cobra smirked slyly. "You'll feel it soon…" Cobra then stuck his hand out. "Sound palm." An invisible force pushed Veronica into the wall, causing the annoying blonde to let out a small yelp.

"O-Ow! What was that!?" Veronica shook her head from the impact and jumped onto a floating platform.

"Poison Dragon's Scales…" A set of poisonous scales hit Veronica from behind, causing her to fall onto a platform below.

"W-What the hell!?" Veronica looked around, feeling the burning sensation of poison inside her body.

Heather walked into the room, looking down at Veronica with a smirk. "Oh my…did I hit you?"

"Hm…" Cobra looked over at Heather with an interested look. "Poison Dragon Slayer…first generation…"

"Huh?" Heather looked up at Cobra with a confused looked. "How did you…"

"I can hear everything," Cobra replied.

"That doesn't sound as good as it should…" Heather replied.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Veronica shouted at the two poison dragon slayers, waving her hands around as she sent the floating platforms hurtling towards the two.

"Whoa!" Heather crossed her arms, bringing up a Poison Dragon's guard to protect herself from the platforms, but the velocity was too great so she was sent flying back a few feet due to her guard shattering. Cobra heard where Veronica planned to send all the platforms, so he just jumped on the platforms that Veronica wasn't using.

"She can't focus on more than one thing at a time," Cobra said to Heather, closing his eye.

"Is that so…?" Heather smirked slightly at Veronica, who stared to get nervous from the poison flooding her system.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Cobra said with a sly smirk. "You control poison, yet you haven't built up immunity to it…"

"Ugh…" Veronica took a step forward, only to collapse from the numbness in her body. "D-Dammit…I can't move…!"

"Hm…well, that was disappointing…" Heather crossed her arms.

"E-Erik, are you okay?!" Kinana asked, shaking off the earlier hit.

"Yes," Cobra replied, looking over to Kinana. "Are you?"

"I'm fine…" Kinana nodded.

"There are two mages left…" Cobra said, taking a calm stance as his arms turned to normal as he exited his Dragon Force. "Both from Silent Sanctum…"

"Silent Sanctum…?" Kinana asked, looking over at Cobra with a strange look.

"That's right…A requip mage who is currently fighting Erza…and the ace of that guild…"

"E-Erza? Is she okay!?" Heather asked.

"She is not."

.

.

"What's wrong Titania!?" Byron was wielding yet another hammer that required the use of both of his hands, along with a purple and white robe. This was Byron's special combo of his Gravity suit and hammer. Byron swung his hammer to change Erza's gravity, then swinging the hammer like a golf club, propelling Erza into the air. Using his gravity suit, he changed the gravity around himself, propelling himself into the air and slammed Erza into the nearby wall. Erza let out a scream of pain as she had no time to react to Byron's assault. Byron swung his hammer again, pulling Erza from the wall, and slammed her into the ground, creating a large crater. "I guess you're not ready!" Byron replaced his gravity hammer with his Explosion Hammer, smirking at the downed Erza as he jumped into the air. "FOR THE BIG BANG!" As Byron brought his hammer down, a steel wall appeared in front of him, catching him off guard as his explosion sent him back. "W-What the hell!?"

"Heh, nice one, Zalen!" Reve smirked. "My, my, Titania," Reve said as he walked over to Erza. "You just haven't been having good luck lately, have you?"

"Reve…?" Erza stood up slowly, looking at Reve and Zalen. "So, you're here too…"

"You seemed to be having a bit of trouble," Zalen said with a smirk, fixing his glasses. "So, we came over to help."

"Oh great, more mages! This is great, more blood for my collection…!" Byron grinned as he stood up straight from his explosion.

"This guy is weird…" Zalen whispered over to Reve.

"Well!" Reve smirked as two assault rifles manifested themselves into his hands, and he pointed them at Byron. "I'll show you how a REAL requip mage does things!" Reve them clicked the trigger on his guns, unleashing a seemingly endless stream of bullets towards Byron.

"We'll see about that, gunslinger!" Byron smirked as his shield appeared on his arm, reflecting the shots right back at Reve, Zalen, and Erza.

"Shit!" Reve and Zalen rolled hard to the left while Erza rolled to the right.

"Yeah, that shield's a problem," Erza said, shaking her head as she entered her Heaven's Wheel armor.

"Tch, we'll see about that!" Reve started to fire once again, but not an endless stream like the last time. "Zalen!"

"Right!" Zalen put up a steel wall right as Reve finished shooting, using it as cover as Byron easily bounced the bullets back.

"Oh?" Byron smirked slightly, a death scythe manifesting in his hands as Zalen's wall protected Reve and Zalen. "Let's see how you handle this!" Byron lunged forward, swinging his scythe at the steel wall, easily cleaving the wall in two, causing the wall to vanish. But Reve was prepared for this; Reve had a shotgun equipped, and pointed it at Byron just as he cut down the wall.

"Burst Shot!" Reve shouted as he fired the highly concentrated bullet at Byron, forcing the Deadly Blade to slide back a few feet.

"Hey, not bad, cowboy!" Byron's eyes went to the left, and he brought his scythe up, blocking a downward slash from Erza. Erza back flipped; her eyes wide that Byron was able to react so quickly. "Heh, watch this…" Byron's scythe literally changed into a gunbow, and he fired powerful shots of pure magical energy in a stream towards Zalen and Reve.

"Watch out!" A magic circle appeared in front of Zalen as a metal jaw appeared, allowing the shots to fly in the mouth of the jaw and bounce around. However, Zalen wasn't expecting the shots to shatter the jar and slam into him, knocking him into the wall, causing him to lose consciousness.

"Shit, Zalen!" Reve looked over at the downed, Zalen; a mistake as Byron came in with his scythe, slashing Reve across the chest, creating a deep gash. "S-Shit…!" Reve took a few steps back, holding his chest and falling to a knee as blood dripped from his chest.

"Don't keep yer guard down now!" Byron then turned to Erza, who used her Heaven's Wheel armor to her advantage and threw a multitude of swords towards Byron. "Heh, is that all ya got!" Byron turned the scythe into a gun bow once again, shooting down most of the swords that came in his direction, jumping off to the side as the rest of the swords came in.

"Pentagram Sword!" Erza charged at Byron, slashing her swords in the shape of a pentagram. Byron was unable to dodge this particular attack, so he took the full force of it, sliding back across the ground a few yards, wiping his mouth.

"Heh, not bad, Titania," Byron said with a smirk.

Reve used this time to pull out his six chambered magnum, pointing it directly at Byron while he was distracted with Erza. "Eat this…" Reve said with a smirk.

Byron put his shield up, allowing Reve's bullet to bounce off easily and back to Reve, creating an explosion that blew the gunslinger back. "Boring…"

"S-Shit…what's up with this guy!?" Reve asked, groaning as he brought a hand to his side. "No one has THAT reflexes THAT good, not even me!" As Reve spoke, Erza slammed into the ground next her him, her Heaven's wheel armor shattering into pieces.

"D-Dammit…" Erza groaned, picking herself up slowly, hunching over as she placed her hands on her knees.

"Titania…" Reve said through heavy breaths.

"Reve…" Erza replied, closing one eye.

"This is the only time in my life I'm asking you for something important…" Reve said, looking over at Erza with a serious look. "Get rid of that fucking shield…"

"Gladly…" Erza replied, changing into her outfit with nothing but the cloth around her breasts, pants, and her scarlet hair tied back into a ponytail. Erza held a single sword in her hands. "I need to focus…"

"So I'm the scapegoat, eh?" Reve shook his head slowly, pointing his magnum at Byron again. "How long?"

"A few seconds…starting now," Erza replied, closing her eyes.

"I can do that…" Reve ran to the left, firing off two magnum shots at Byron.

"You just don't learn, do ya!?" Byron held his shield out, absorbing the two shots, and immediately spat them back out into a larger bullet that raced towards Reve.

"Tch!" Reve's body gave off a heavenly glow as he requipped into his defensive SWAT armor, taking the giant bullet head on, slamming into the wall, heavily damage despite the defensive increase.

"I've been focusing on hitting that shield too much…" Erza thought to herself as she blocked out all her surroundings, focusing all her power into her sword. "I need to cut THROUGH it…" Erza opened her eyes, putting everything she had in one shot. "Over here!" Erza shouted as she lunged forward at Byron, pulling her sword back.

"All or nothin' eh!? Well I guess you got NOTHING!" Byron smirked as he placed his shield in front of him, just as Erza swung her sword slashing…THROUGH the shield, shattering it into pieces, causing Byron's eyes to widened. "W-WHAT!? MY SHIELD!?"

"Heh…" Reve picked himself up slowly, leaning against the wall as he aimed his fourth shot at Byron. "Bang…" Reve clicked the trigger, sending the large bullet over at Byron.

"You think just because my shield is gone I'm gonna lose?!" Byron prepared to jump to the left, but two steel walls appeared on his sides and behind him, restricting his movement from dodging the incoming bullet. "W-What!?"

"Heh…" Zalen stood up, blood trailing down the side of his head. "Don't underestimate White Eclipse…" Byron couldn't find the time to respond as the bullet slammed into his, causing a massive explosion and a large dust cloud; when the smoke cleared, Byron laying on the ground in KO.

"And stay down…" Reve said with a smirk, falling on his back, completely exhausted from the magic depletion.

"Not bad…Reve…" Erza said as she fell on her knees, panting heavily just as Mirajane and Elfman walked it.

"Erza…?" Mirajane limped over to Erza, smirking slightly at Byron's condition. "Aw…I wanted revenge…" She said with a giggle.

"I didn't do it alone…" Erza said, nudging her head over to Zalen and Reve.

"Heh…as a real man, I have to say thank you for helping Erza," Elfman said over to the White Eclipse mages with a smile.

.

.

"We're getting close!" Wendy said in an excited tone, pointing to the large doors in front of them. "She's beyond that set of doors! HANG ON CYNTHIA! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Wendy screamed, making sure Cynthia would be able to hear her.

"Wait!" Natsu grabbed Wendy by the back of her shirt then looked around, a serious expression crossing his face.

"N-Natsu-san?! Why!?" Wendy stopped, looking up at Natsu with an anxious expression. "She's right past these doors!" Wendy sniffed the air a few more times until a slightly familiar scent crossed her nose. "Wait…"

"Come out of hiding…" Natsu said, looking around the room.

Aloysius walked out of the shadows, clapping slowly at the two Dragon Slayers. "Impressive…you've made it to the very top of the tower…"

"It's you!" Natsu snarled as his body instantly caught on fire, glaring at Aloysius.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you're going to go," Aloysius said, a sadistic grin appearing over his lips.


	79. Chapter 79: Destruction Awaits

"There he is…" Aiden said with a smirk, watching the lacrima screen that was recording the footage just outside the large steel doors that were between the Fairy Tail mages and Cynthia.

"W-Who is that?" Cynthia asked, whimpering softly.

"Aloysius; the ace of Silent Sacntum. I would've hired Daityas, but he was busy, so I got the next best thing," Aiden replied, turning his head to make sure Cynthia was watching what was about to happen.

"Ace…I believe in Wendy and Natsu…I think…" Cynthia said, looking at the screen, more so at Wendy. "Wendy…"

.

.

"You're the one that led the attack on Fairy Tail…!" Natsu snarled.

"Yes, and now I'm the one halting you from getting beyond that door," Aloysius replied.

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Natsu screamed, lunging at Aloysius with a flaming fist. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw his fist forward, but Aloysius shifted his body to the side, easily dodging Natsu's fist, then lifted his leg up, aiming a sharp knee into Natsu's gut, causing the Salamander's eyes to widened in surprise as he stumbled back, holding his gut. "W-What…?"

"I am the ace of Silent Sanctum; I doubt two non S class mages can even touch me…" Aloysius replied to Natsu's surprise. "I'm going to enjoy torturing you two…"

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy immediately opened her mouth, sending a sky blue hurricane rushing towards Aloysius.

Aloysius smirked at the incoming hurricane, whispering softly under his breath. "Meteor…" Aloysius's body wrapped itself in a heavenly light, boosting his speed as he easily evaded the attack, watching as the Sky Dragon's Roar easily shattered through the wall. "Oh…that's slightly impressive power you have there…"

"Heavenly body magic?!" Natsu's eyes widened in surprise; he only knew one other person who could utilize Heavenly Body magic, so it's no surprise he was caught off guard.

"Kehehe…" Aloysius grinned, circling around the two dragon slayers with his increased speed.

"Damn, I can't get a lock on him…!" Natsu shouted, looking around.

"Cynthia's just beyond that door…he's not getting in my way…!" Wendy shouted, firing off another Sky Dragon's roar in one direction, hoping she would catch Aloysius off guard, but she was way off. Aloysius quickly stopped, then circled around in a counterclockwise motion, using his speed to land harsh blows on both Wendy and Natsu, causing them to stumble around. "Oof!"

"Crismon Lotus Blade!" Natsu spun around as flame surrounded his arms, aiming to catch Aloysius with this wide range attack. But again, Natsu was wrong. Aloysius merely flew to the top, snickering as Natsu's attack missed him completely. "Dammit! Hold still!" Before Natsu could make another move, a magic circle appeared on his and Wendy's bodies.

"W-What's this…!?" Wendy asked, her eyes widening.

"Rapture…" Aloysius snapped his fingers, using his Rapture Magic to cause the magic energy inside Wendy and Natsu's bodies to explode, causing the two to let out agonizing screams.

"W-WENDY!" Cynthia saw what was happening, and red flames started to surround her body. S-Stop hurting her! PLEASE!"

"W-What was that…!?" Wendy asked as she hunched over, panting slightly.

"Rapture Magic…" Natsu replied, growling at Aloysius.

"There's more where that came from too," Aloysius grinned sadistically; but before he did anything else, Natsu charged towards him, aiming his flaming foot towards his head.

"Talons of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu swung his foot at Aloysius' head, but the sadistic mage brought his forearm up, easily blocking the kick before it even reach his head; Aloysius then swung a devastating headbutt at Natsu, causing the Salamander to stumble back, gripping his head in agony. "D-Damn…that hurt…"

"Natsu-san, look out!" Wendy shouted, tackling Natsu out of the way just as Aloysius attempted an axe kick, but he hit the ground, causing it to shatter.

"H-Holy…!" Natsu's eyes widened at Aloysius's power.

"He's strong…!" Wendy squeaked.

"Don't blink," Aloysius said in a taunting tone, utilizing his Heavenly Body Magic once more to dash past Natsu and Wendy and make a return trip. Though it seemed like nothing to a normal eye, Aloysius actually landed several harsh punches on the two, causing them to stumble back.

"D-Dammit!" Natsu kicked at the air wildly, hoping to land a hit, but he missed horribly.

"He won't hold still…!" Wendy groaned, looking around at the speeding Aloysius, unable to keep up with him with her eyes. "Cynthia's right there…he can't stop us here…!" Wendy took a step forward, her eyes widening as she felt a harsh snap in her leg, causing her to fall over to the ground with a loud shriek of pain.

"W-Wendy!?" Natsu looked over at Wendy, but he didn't have time to go over to her since Aloysius used his rapture magic on Natsu once again, causing the magic in Natsu's body to explode, dealing heavy damage to the Salamander.

"Oh…your leg snapped like a twig…" Aloysius gave a disappointing look, but quickly replaced it with a sadistic grin as Wendy whimpered from the pain of her shattered leg.

"W-WENDY!" Cynthia struggled intensely to break free from her restraints, the red flames around her body darkening even more as she watched her best friend at the hands of a sadistic mage.

"I wonder what would happen if I…" Aloysius stepped on Wendy's shattered leg, causing the young girl to let out another shriek of agony; however, Aloysius gave a shiver as he grinned. "Oooh yeah…" Aloysius licked his lips, raising his foot to slam it on Wendy's shattered leg one again.

"Dazzling Blaze!" Natsu started, raising a large orb of fire above his head. However, Aloysius merely used his rapture magic once more to cut Natsu off, listening to Natsu's screams as the magic within his body exploded, causing Natsu to fall to the ground, wincing.

"Hm, not as fun as yours," Aloysius said to the whimpering Wendy who was attempting to crawl away from Aloysius at this point. "Oh, where do you think you're going?" Aloysius grinned, gripping Wendy tightly by her broken leg and dragged her across the ground while she desperately clawed at it, letting out constant yelps of pain.

"W-Wendy!" Natsu's body shot up at Wendy's cries, and he immediately covered himself in fire and lightning, lunging himself head first towards Aloysius. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!"

"You're only making it worse for her, Salamander," Aloy said with a sick grin. "Meteor…" With that, Aloysius's body wrapped itself in a heavenly light, using his speed to avoid Natsu's attack. The sudden speed yanked at Wendy's terribly injured leg, causing her to give a loud cry of pain until Aloysius stopped on the ground just a few feet away from Natsu.

"Let…her…go…" Natsu said in a threatening tone.

"If you insist…" Aloysius dropped Wendy, causing her to let out another yelp of pain as she trembled, nearly going into a state of shock from the pain she was going through. Aloysius then used his rapture magic once again one Natsu, causing the Salamander to let out yet another agonizing scream of pain as he fell to the ground, panting heavily.

"C-C-C-Cynthia…" Wendy placed one of her hands on the ground, attempting to lift herself up slowly.

"That's not the noise I want to hear," Aloysius said before harshly stomping on Wendy's broken leg with absolutely zero intentions on stopping. With every stomp, Wendy let out a scream of pain, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"STOP IT!" Cynthia screamed, unable to bear the sight any longer as she trashed her body around, the flames around her body darkening considerably every time Wendy let out a scream. "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP ITTTT!"

"Hm…?" Aiden looked over at Cynthia, a tiny smirk drawn on his face.

Wendy's body shivered after Aloysius finally let up, only to see the condition Wendy was in. "S-Stop…" Wendy said in a weak voice, unable to find the strength to even talk after Aloysius's torture.

"Stop?" A grin plastered itself over Aloysius' lips as he raised his foot high once more. "The fun is just starting…" Before anything else could happen, a powerful fist slammed into Aloysius' face, sending him flying into the wall. "W-What the?!"

"Wendy…!" Chelia ran over to Wendy, whose ears perked up at the familiar voice.

"C-Chelia…!?" Wendy recognized the voice, but she wasn't able to move her body.

"Heavenly Arrows…" Aloysius swiped his hand, sending multiple arrows of holy light towards Wendy and Chelia.

"Rockiron wall!" A wall of and iron popped out in front of Wendy and Chelia, protecting the two girls from the Heavenly Arrows.

Natsu lifted his head, turning to see the wizard saint, Jura. "J-JURA!?"

And to end it, a familiar figure walked in front of Jura, staring face to face with Aloysius, absolutely livid. "You think…harming a member of Fairy Tail…is fun…?" Gildarts glared right into Aloysius's eyes, forehead to forehead with the Silent Sanctum Ace.

"G-GILDARTS?!" Natsu grinned at the sight of the Fairy Tail Ace.

"Wendy, are you okay?!" Chelia placed her hands over Wendy, her hands letting off a soft green light as she began to heal Wendy's injuries, planning on moving to Natsu next. Wendy winced, whimpering from the healing process.

"I-I am now…what are you three doing here…?" Wendy asked as she felt her leg slowly feel better.

"I didn't feel comfortable leaving you and the rest of Fairy Tail to do this on your own…so I convinced Jura-san to come with me…and here we are," Chelia replied.

"We weren't the only ones who wanted to come," Jura responded, shooting a glare at Aloysius. "I can see the famous Gildarts arrived just in time…"

"The more the merrier," Aloysius said with a grin, still forehead to forehead with the livid Gildarts. Gildarts infused his fist with Crash Magic, aiming a swift uppercut towards Aloysius's chin, but the sadistic mage dodged the punch by jumping back, using his Heavenly body magic to fly around the room with a smirk.

"Rockiron fist!" Jura used a hand sign, sending multiple fists of rock and iron towards Aloysius, but the mage continued to dodge, quite easily at that.

"I'm done," Chelia said. "Are you okay!?"

Wendy nodded slowly, feeling the state of shock her body was about to enter dismiss itself as she stood up slowly. "N-Natsu-san…"

"I got him, don't worry!" Chelia nodded, sliding over to Natsu and started the healing process.

"I'll teach you for destroying Fairy Tail!" Gildarts shouted, his fist clashing with Aloysius', creating a thunderous shockwave that shook the entire tower. Jura created several rock and iron fist to attack Aloysius while he was distracted with Gildarts, but the Silent Sanctum Ace saw such a move coming, so he used his Heavenly Body magic once more to jump away from Gildarts, and easily evade the numerous fist flying in his direction.

"Done…!" Chelia exclaimed; as soon as Chelia finished, Natsu hopped back up, glaring at Aloysius. He knew Gildarts and Jura would be able to handle this, but every part of his body wanted revenge on Aloysius for leading the attack on Fairy Tail and harming Wendy like that. Just then a puff of white smoke appeared behind Aloysius; Sidney appeared with his hands raised over his head, and slammed them into Aloysius's back, sending the mage crashing into the ground. "W-Who's…!?"

"Sidney-san…!" Wendy's eyes widened.

"Him too!?" Natsu gasped.

"I could sense that someone attempted to attack White Eclipse…" Sidney turned. "I know you played a role in this…and I haven't forgotten about that day you came in and attacked all of us."

Aloysius picked himself off the ground slightly, smirking at Gildarts, Jura, and Sidney. "Oh…now it's my lucky day, isn't …?"

"We can handle this," Gildarts said to Wendy, Natsu, ad Chelia.

"Let's go save Cynthia…!" Wendy nodded as she, Natsu, and Chelia turned to the large steel door that opened very slowly for the three.

"This is taking forever already!" Chelia whined.

"Time to knock it down!" Natsu puffed his cheeks out, the two sky slayers following suit. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Sky God's Bellow!"

.

.

All over the tower, lacrima screen were put up where the Fairy Tail and White Eclispe mages were in the tower, and all over Fiore, allowing the residents of the country to watch the ensuing conclusion of the Cynthia's rescue. The front doors to the lab flew open due to the unison raid between Natsu, Chelia, and Wendy, and the three stepped inside. "They made it!" Lucy grinned.

"Is that Chelia…?" Erza asked.

"I say don't question it…" Reve said weakly. "The more help, the merrier, right?"

"Hey, looks like they did it…!" Cana said with a grin.

"They made it...?" Captain Aloy of the Magic Council asked with a raised brow.

.

.

The three slayers looked around the room, unable to see anything in front of them due to the small dust cloud they created. Natsu looked up, spotting a device falling from the ceiling and onto them. "Look out!" Natsu and Chelia pushed Wendy out of the way of the incoming device. The device floated above Natsu and Chelia before forming an orange, yellow, and blue force field around them.

"W-What's this?!" Chelia asked, attempting to punch through the force field along with Natsu.

"Sky, fire, and lightning resistant force field, my friends…in fact, it's magic resistant, so don't even try any of your silly attacks...oh yes..." Aiden said from his desk that was at the very top of the tower, looking down at the three mages; more so Wendy. Aiden then pressed a button, causing a magic proof force field to appear where the door formally was. "Just in case those pesky wizards get any ideas..."

"We're here to take you down and get Cynthia back!" Wendy shouted, glaring up at Aiden. "You're going to pay for all those terrible things you've done to her!"

"Am I now?" Aiden laughed lightly at the thought. "Well, there's one more person you'll have to get through before you can get to me," Aiden replied.

"Who…!?" Wendy started. A gentle footstep hit the ground, causing the eyes of every single mage watching to widen as large as possible. Wendy gasped at the figure standing in front of her.

"T-THAT'S!" Aira gasped.

"N-NO WAY…!" Luke said with complete shock.

Cynthia's flames were as dark a shade of red as they could get, red sparks dancing around her body every other second; her eyes blazing red as her body twitched uncontrollably. "D-Destroy…Destroy…."


	80. Chapter 80: Wendy vs Cynthia

Cynthia's flames were as dark a shade of red as they could get, red sparks dancing around her body every other second; her eyes blazing red as her body twitched uncontrollably. "D-Destroy…Destroy…."

"C-C-CYNTHIA!?" Wendy took a step back from pure shock. "W-What did you do to her!?"

"Actually," Aiden retorted with a sly grin. "It's what YOU did to her."

"W-What!?" Wendy looked up at Aiden with a confused look.

"Wendy didn't do anything to Cynthia!" Chelia shouted, attempting to punch through the force field around her and Natsu.

"Yeah, so quit lying you dirty bastard!" Natsu roared, throwing multiple punches and kicks at the force field, making absolutely no progress whatsoever.

"On the contrary, Salamander," Aiden grinned. "Granted what happened to everyone else in this tower did spark her emotions, when she saw Wendy suffering at Aloysius' hands, that was all it took for her emotions to spiral out of control.

"That doesn't explain why she's like this!" Wendy shouted. "Last time I saw her, she had control over that!"

"Oh, well you see, it got to the point where she couldn't control them…so I simply forced those flames back into her body, causing this. The only person she will listen to and take commands from is ME. This is truly the grand scheme of Fiore's End." Aiden nodded, looking over at Cynthia, then at Wendy.

"Cynthia's not some tool for you to be using like this!" Wendy objected, glaring hatefully at Aiden.

"Oh really now…?" Aiden rested his elbows on his desk, and then looked down at Cynthia. "Fiore's End, what are you?"

Cynthia's eye twitched uncontrollably as the red sparks continued to appear on her body periodically, her flames flaring up and down randomly. "A-A tool…to help Master Aiden destroy Fiore…"

.

.

"DID SHE REALLY JUST CALL HERSELF THAT!?" Lucy gasped.

"What the hell did he do to that little girl…?" Taya asked from White Eclipse, looking up at one of the many lacrima screens posted around Fiore.

"H-He did that…to one of MY children…!?" Makarov was seething, he tried to stand up, but he still unable to walk.

"M-Master…!" Lisanna ran over to the old man, supporting him.

"That ain't wild at all…" Bacchus said from Quatro Cerberus.

"How could someone do something like that…?" Sting mumbled while he was watching from Sabertooth.

.

.

"C-Cynthia…!" Wendy felt her heart break from Cynthia's words. "Tha…That's not who you are…!" Cynthia gave no response to Wendy, her body just twitched every so often. "C-Cynthia! Answer me!"

"I already told you," Aiden said with large grin. "She's not responding to anyone but me."

"Cynthia! I know you can hear me!" Wendy shouted, raising her voice in hopes that it would be able to reach Cynthia.

"You're too stubborn…" Aiden gave a disappointed sigh before the roof of the tower blew open; debris falling onto the ground. "W-What the hell!?"

Cynthia and Wendy dodged the incoming debris, causing everyone in the group to look up. It was Blue Pegasus and Cristina! "Ichiya-san!"

"MEN!" Ichiya pointed his fingers at Aiden. "Your parfarm of evil is a disgrace to all those who live in the world!"

"Oh I forgot about this parfarm smelling little…" Aiden glared at Ichiya while speaking. "Actually, this is a great time to test your power, Fiore's End. Destroy that ship."

"CYNTHIA NO!" Wendy objected. Cynthia only listened to Aiden however, puffing her cheeks out as an extremely dark red vortex of fire surrounded Cynthia's mouth.

"Roar…" Cynthia's voice had a monotonous tone to it, as if she really were just a tool.

"W-What do we do!?" Ren asked Ichiya.

"We have no choice, men! We must fire!" Ichiya shouted.

"Right!" The Trimens nodded, aiming the cannons at Cynthia, sending powerful magical blasts at the young girl.

"Of the Omega Fire Dragon…" Cynthia opened her mouth, sending a massive funnel of fire towards the Christina. The roar easily overpowered the blast and hit the right side of the ship, causing a massive explosion, and the ship to fall down to the ground.

"Blue Pegasus!" Natsu's eyes widened as the chip crashed into the ground, creating a noticeable explosion.

"OH! That was GREAT!" Aiden gave a hearty laugh. "That's what you get for messing with my Omega Fire Cannon!"

"T-That was horrible…" Chelia brought her hands up to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock at how easily Cynthia was just able to do such a thing.

"Cynthia…This isn't you! Please stop…!" Wendy pleaded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "PLEASE STOP!"

Cynthia didn't respond to Wendy immediately. Her body gave a twitch before she responded. "W-Wen…." She couldn't finish the word; she just stopped as the red sparks danced around her body from the overload of power in her body.

"Hm…Alright, I'll give you one last task, Fiore's End," Aiden said. "Before we truly begin, I want you to destroy the girl before you."

"W-WHAT!?" Natsu's body immediately covered itself in flames as he threw multiple punches at kicks at the force field, still making no leeway. "CYNTHIA DO NOT DO IT!"

"Yes…Master…Aiden…" Cynthia turned to looked at Wendy, not showing an ounce of emotion.

"Cynthia…" Wendy held her ground, looking at her best friend. "I'll save you…" With that comment, Cynthia dashed forward at an incredible speed, catching Wendy off guard as the tool appeared behind her, throwing a high kick to her back. Wendy yelped from the kick, stumbling back a few steps before turning around. She really didn't want to hurt Cynthia, but if she could snap Cynthia out of this state, it would be worth it. "Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy jumped forward, swiping her hand at Cynthia, but the emotionally unstable girl jumped back just as the wind slashed at her.

Cynthia jumped into the air, forming two spheres of darkened red fire in her hand, merging them together over her head. "Radiant Blaze of the Omega Fire Dragon…" Cynthia then hurled the blaze towards Wendy.

"Wah!" Wendy dove out of the way of the incoming blaze, the explosion blowing her away a bit, causing her to stumble back. "Cynthia, stop this, this is crazy!" Wendy shouted, but before she could get her own attack ready, Cynthia came in with a powerful punch across Wendy's jawline, causing the sky dragon slide back across the ground.

"Cynthia! Look at what you're doing!" Chelia shouted.

"This isn't you!" Natsu yelled.

.

.

"Kehehe…" Aloysius grinned at the sounds he heard coming from the laboratory, completely ignoring Sidney, Gildarts, and Jura.

"What's so funny!?" Gildarts asked.

"Our job here is done…" Aloysius said.

"Job?" Jura raised an eyebrow.

"Fiore's End is set," Aloysius replied. A bright flash of light appeared, and every Tartaros and Silent Sanctum member vanished.

"What just…?" Jura raised an eyebrow.

"Magic proof force field…" Sidney said, pointing to the wall in front of the doors where Natsu, Chelia, and Wendy went through.

"Oh?" Gildarts opened his hand, sending a white beam towards the force field. However, not even the mighty Gildarts could break the force field standing in front of him and the other two powerful wizards. "W…what…?"

"I believe he is correct, Gildarts-dono," Jura said with a very heavy, and disappointed sigh. "I don't think we'll be breaking through this in time to help..."

"DAMMIT!" Gildarts threw a powerful punch towards the barrier, but nothing happened. "I'm going to keep trying anyway! You're either with me or not!"

"I am with you, Gildarts-dono," Jura replied, creating a fist made from rock and iron, slamming it into the force field, though there was no effect. Sidney decided to follow suit, but for his own reasons as he fired off a seemingly endless barrage of tombstones at the force field. Even with the three powerful wizards combined, the force field did not give an inch.

.

.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy's leg surrounded itself harsh winds, and she spun her leg at Cynthia's stomach. However, the tool easily caught her leg, and then threw Wendy into the air. "Agh!" Wendy spiraled around in the air for a few seconds before catching herself, spreading her arms out. "Sky Dragon's Wind Attack!" Wendy threw her arms down, sending sharp winds in Cynthia's direction.

Cynthia spread her arms out, mimicking Wendy's actions, "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Attack." Cynthia threw her arms down, sending waves of red fire to match Wendy's winds, the two colliding before creating a large explosion.

"What…!?" Wendy landed on the ground, her eyes wide.

"Did you forget?" Aiden commented from his desk. "She's a fast learner."

Wendy ignored Aiden's comment and puffed her cheeks out, allowing a blue vortex of wind to form around her mouth. "Roar…"

Cynthia followed suit, her cheeks puffing out as a vortex of red fire formed around her mouth. "Roar…"

"Of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy opened her mouth, sending a massive hurricane towards Cynthia.

"Of the Omega Fire Dragon…" Cynthia opened her mouth, sending large funnel of red fire towards Wendy's roar; Cynthia's roar ripping through the ground it travled before clashing with Wendy's roar, the two seemingly even for a few seconds before Wendy's roar was overpowered. Wendy flew into the wall after getting hit by Cynthia's roar, her outfit burned.

"Wendy!" Chelia shouted in worry.

Cynthia pounded her fist together, creating a red magic circle. Cynthia's fists then surrounded themselves in dark red fire. "Iron Fist of the Omega Fire Dragon…" Cynthia charged forward towards Wendy with a fist pulled back.

"Look out!" Natsu screamed, still attempting to get through the force field.

"Ugh…" Wendy looked up, just in time as she moved her head to the side just as Cynthia brought her fist forward. Cynthia's fist hit the wall, punching through it. Wendy immediately threw her leg up, finally landing a hit as she landed a Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang at Cynthia's chest, causing the girl to stumble back a few feet. "Cynthia! LISTEN TO ME!"

Cynthia shook her head slowly; it wasn't a verbal response, but it was a response. "Wendy…I-I'm losing control of….m-myself…I-I'm scared…"

"What…?!" Aiden was surprised that Cynthia responded to Wendy. "Tch…Fiore's End, don't do that again!"

Cynthia's body snapped back into place as the red sparks appeared around her body. "Yes, Master Aiden." Cynthia snapped her fingers, causing multiple red magic circles to appear around Wendy.

"WAH!" Wendy had no time to react; all she could do was cover up as the magic circles unleashed fire that exploded on contact, creating a smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Wendy was seen hunched over, her body covered in burn marks. "Ugh…Cynthia…listen to me…"

Cynthia didn't responded; instead she jumped into the air, placing her legs together spinning around as the red fire turned into the shape of a drill. "Omega Fire Dragon's Drill…"

"Vernir!" Wendy's body gave off a bright light as she increased her speed, using it to move over to the side, dodging Cynthia's attack. Cynthia, however, subconsciously knew such a thing was coming, so she shifted her body around as she neared the floor, placing her hands on the floor and sprung into the air once again, coming down with the same attack once again, slamming into Wendy's back side, sending the girl skidding across the floor on her side. "N-Ngh…Arms…armor!" Wendy stood up slowly, increasing all of her stats as she turned to look at Cynthia.

Cynthia placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle to appear. "Omega Fire Dragon's Line…" A line of red fire shot out from the magic circle, cutting through the ground as it raced towards Wendy.

Wendy ran to the side of the incoming line, easily dodging it due to her stat boost, and reared a fist back as wind surrounded it throwing her fist at Cynthia's cheek, landing a hit as the girl took a few steps back, rubbing her cheek. "Cynthia, I know you can hear me!" Wendy shouted, panting slightly as she looked at the girl in front of her.

"…" Cynthia stayed silent; a part of her wanted to respond to Wendy, but that part of her was weaker than the part that Aiden brought out.

"Hm…" Aiden tapped his chin a few times, realizing that Cynthia wasn't going all out like he thought she was at first. "She's not giving it her all…she needs another push…but what…" Aiden thought for a few more seconds until an idea hit his head. "Ah, of course! I almost forgot about that…Oh Fiore's Ennnd…"

Cynthia turned around slowly to look at Aiden. "Yes, Master Aiden…?"

"There's something I've forgotten to show you for the longest time now…" Aiden pointed to a screen. "You remember your mother, yes…?"

"Mommy…" Cynthia nodded slowly as a response.

"Ah, well, I would like to show you what happened to her…" Aiden replied, pressing a button that displayed the replay of Cynthia's mother's death.

{Video}

Cynthia's mother had a petite figure; she had long black hair resembling her daughter's current hairstyle, and sky blue eyes. The woman paced around the room. "Why do you treat our daughter like that?!" Cynthia's mother asked, unable to find too many words to express her anger. "She doesn't need anything to bring out whatever power you THINK she has! She can discover it on her own!"

Aiden shook his head, grabbing something off the nearby counter. "That's where you're wrong. That power within her body can only be brought out by technological means!"

"She deserves much more than being cooped up in a stupid lab!" The mother argued. "She's only five years old! She hasn't even seen a town!"

"I wouldn't expect you to see what I see in that girl…" Aiden walked up to Cynthia's mother, plunging the object he grabbed off the counter into her chest; a sharp knife. The mother's eyes went wide as she felt her life quickly escaping her breath. "It's okay…" Aiden said with a sick grin. "She'll see this one day, and her true power will come through.

{End Video}

Everyone's eyes went wide from what they just witnessed. Wendy covered her mouth, remembering that Cynthia told her someone killed her mother…but she didn't think… "O-Oh my god…"

"H-He killed…her mother…" Natsu's breath went short as he took a step back along with Chelia, who was at a loss for words.

"Sick bastard…" Reve said from the skylight room.

"How could anyone do such a thing...?" Mirajane asked with a broken voice, tears welling in her eyes just from watching the alleged murder.

"That...that's something a man would never do..." Elfman said with pure shock and horror in his voice.

"Y-You….you killed Mommy…?" Despite her eyes a blazing red, tears started to well up in her eyes. "Y-YOU KILLED MY MOMMY!" Cynthia's flames flared extremely high into the opened hole from earlier, completely blowing the roof off the tower as her flames nearly turned black.

"YES! NOW DESTROY HER!" Aiden grinned widely, pointing at Wendy.

Cynthia…complied to Aiden's actions. She dashed forward at Wendy, aiming a near black flaming fist at Wendy's face, sending the girl flying back. Luckily, Wendy recovered just in time to yell at Aiden. "Y-YOU'RE A MONSTER…! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO CYNTHIA!?"

"For the betterment of my research, of course. AND BECAUSE I CAN!" Aiden said with a hearty laugh. "Now, my precious little tool, destroy her!"

"RAAHH!" Cynthia lost complete control of herself at this point, rushing towards Wendy as she threw a plethora of punches and kicks at the girl, unable to keep herself from holding back.

"C-Cynthia!" Wendy couldn't find any words to say, she just used her speed and power to dodge and counter Cynthia's attacks. The two girls dodged, blocked, and hit each other with their attacks. Wendy blocked a kick, landing a punch on Cynthia's chest; Cynthia blocked a punch, landing a kick to Wendy's side. The close combat continued for a while, though it was clear that Wendy was on the losing end of this fight.

"DAMMIT! LET US OUT OF HERE!" Natsu roared, entering his Lightning Flame Mode as he unleashed a Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar on the force field, but just like before, there was no effect.

Cynthia brought her hands down on Wendy, but Wendy crossed her arms into an X formation, entering a struggle as the two attempted to push the other away. "Cynthia! I know it hurts…but you have to stop this!"

"W-Wendy…" Cynthia managed to speak in a weakened, heartbroken voice as tears started to roll down her cheeks, breaking the control that was over her temporarily so she could speak. "I hate this…I don't want to cause you, or anyone anymore pain…so please…before I can cause anyone anymore harm…I beg of you…_Set me free_…"

Wendy's eyes widened at Cynthia's words, the two jumping away from each other, now a few foot gap separating the two. Wendy now realized what was on the line in this situation; Fiore's fate, or her best friend. Wendy looked at her shoulder realizing that the part covering her Fairy Tail mark was gone, exposing said symbol. Wendy looked over at Cynthia, a saddened expression in her eyes. She knew what Cynthia was asking for, and Wendy, as much as it pained her, planned to deliver... "I'll set you free...I'll bring you out of the darkness...I swear it..."


	81. Chapter 81: Set Me Free

"WHAT!?" Lucy's eyes widened. "C-Cynthia!? Wendy!"

"She's not serious, is she!?" Selene said with a gasp.

"I think she is…" Aira said with a lone tone. "That's what scares me."

"W-Wendy's not actually going to kill her, is she!?" Luke asked, looking over to Lucy and Gray.

"Fairy Tail doesn't kill…" Gray replied, staring intently at the lacrima screen showing the battle.

"…You say that…but look at the situation she's in…" Takeru replied to Gray. "What else is there to do?"

"I know Wendy wouldn't…" Lucy mumbled. "We have to believe in her.."

Waiston frowned slightly, speaking the words no one would dare to say, "If Wendy loses, that puts the entire country of Fiore at risk. That means Cynthia will have to..."

"Believe in Wendy!" Lucy interrupted. "Both Wendy and Cynthia are members of Fairy Tail! There's nothing they can't do...!"

"I believe in her," Selene replied. "Cynthia didn't ask for this, but I'm sure there's a way to save her without killing her..."

Gajeel sat cross legged on the ground, looking up at the lacrima screen with a worried expression. "I know you're not a killer, kid…"

.

.

Wendy and Cynthia faced off against each other, neither saying a word as everyone felt the tension in the air. Wendy took a deep breath, preparing herself for what may happen in this fight, and then dashed towards Cynthia. "Cynthia, I'm not going to allow you to throw your life away like this, understand!?" Cynthia allowed the red flames to surround her body in the shape of a wheel; the only response given was a loud shout of pain, signifying some kind of inner struggle that was failing as Cynthia rolled forward towards Wendy. Wendy placed her arms forward, Cynthia running right into Wendy's hands. "Ngh…!" Cynthia pushed Wendy back a few feet before Wendy gripped Cynthia and threw her into the wall. Cynthia hit the wall, grunting softly. "Agh…" Wendy groaned softly at her burnt hands, shaking them out softly.

Cynthia recovered quickly, unable to respond to Wendy anymore as her power got to her head, completely cutting out the young, innocent girl that Fairy Tail learned to love. The young girl stood up slowly, puffing her cheeks out as a mini tornado of red fire swirled around her mouth. "Omega Fire Dragon's Roar…" Her voice seemed weak, strained, but still monotonous as she fired off the large funnel of red fire towards Wendy.

"Cynthia, look at me!" Wendy crossed her arms as the roar slammed into her, causing an explosion as she flew back, skidding back across the ground on her feet. "We all know this isn't who you really are! You have to find yourself!"

"Your words will no longer pollute her mind," Aiden said to Wendy, a faint scowl over his lips.

"You're the one polluting her mind!" Wendy shouted, turning her head at Aiden. "You're the reason she's suffered!" Wendy puffed her cheeks out, aiming for Aiden. "Roar…!"

"You will not harm Master Aiden!" Cynthia shoulder tackled Wendy, causing Wendy to prematurely release her roar, sending it flying into air, where the ceiling used to be.

"He's not your master!" Wendy replied, pulling an arm back, landing a punch across Cynthia's jawline.

"He is my master! The one I will always serve!" Cynthia replied, returning Wendy's punch with her own, right across the jawline.

"Listen to yourself!" Wendy shouted, throwing a high kick to Cynthia's sternum.

"Listen to YOURSELF!" Cynthia replied, throwing her leg at Wendy's the two clashing, creating a minor shockwave that gave a mini thunderous boom.

"Cynthia, I know you're still in there! You were there just a few minutes ago!" Wendy threw a quick jab at Cynthia's face, but Cynthia caught the jab with her right hand, quickly pulling her knee up, slamming it into Wendy's gut, causing Wendy to take a desperate gasp for air, feeling winded after the attack.

"Her name isn't Cynthia, Little Sky Dragon," Aiden commented from above. "Her name is Fiore's End, isn't that right?"

Cynthia nodded very slowly, her blazing red eyes twitching some at the name and her current condition. "Y-Yes…My name…is F-Fiore's End…"

"Dammit, Cynthia!" Natsu screamed. "Don't listen to that bastard! You're Cynthia of Fairy Tail! Not some crazy asshole's tool to destroy!"

"Fight it, Cynthia!" Chelia shouted.

"It's cute how hard you're all trying," Aiden said with a mocking laugh. "But you should know it's pointless by now. You Fairy Tail wizards just don't know when to quit, do you…?"

"I'm not giving up on Cynthia!" Wendy jumped into the air, spreading her arms out once again. "Not when she needs me the most!" Wendy threw her arms down, unleashing yet another Sky Dragon's Wing Attack on Cynthia.

Cynthia's body and her mind ran on autopilot; the only thing she could hear was Aiden's voice now, commanding her to attack. This part of Cynthia didn't care that she was attacking her best friend; she was doing as she was told, like the tool she was. Cynthia crossed her arms as the Sky Dragon's Wing attack slammed into her, causing a miniature dust cloud. Even though the dust didn't clear, Cynthia jumped through the smoke, landing a devastating kick to Wendy's side, causing the sky dragon to hit the ground. "My name…i-is Fiore's…End…"

Wendy got up as fast she could, holding her side as she closed one eye, panting. "Your name is Cynthia…" Wendy replied, opening her mouth as she started inhaling the air to regain lost magic energy. "I-I'll keep saying that until you say it too…"

"I'm growing tired of your repetitiveness…" Aiden sighed, shaking his head slowly. "You are perhaps the MOST stubborn little girl I've ever met, and that's a lot seeing as how I had to deal with this one for seven year. Fiore's End, I think it's time to end this battle once and for all."

"Yes, Master Aiden…" Cynthia nodded, rushing towards Wendy once again.

"I will set you free…" Wendy thought to herself as Cynthia came in. The two girls entered fierce close combat once again; Wendy's has surrounded by the wind and Cynthia's hands surrounded by red fire so dark is was almost black. Thunderous shockwaves shaking the area every time the two girls' attacks met. "I WILL set you free!"

"STOP TALKING!" Cynthia shouted, actually showing some emotion in her voice, quite annoyed by Wendy repeating the same thing over and over again. However, it was quite obvious that her annoyance for this came from Aiden's annoyance from it, showing that Cynthia didn't even have her own mind anymore. She really was a tool.

"I know you don't mean that!" Wendy shouted in reply, narrowing her eyes as an incoming punch came right for her face. With quick reflexes, the young sky dragon moved her body to the side, avoiding the punch with more difficulty than it looked, aiming a high kick to Cynthia's chest once again. Wendy's kick landed, and Cynthia stumbled back.

"Eruption…" Cynthia placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle to appear under Wendy. This was similar to Luke's lighting circle, only this time fire erupted from the magic circle, shooting Wendy up into the air.

"Agh!" Wendy let out a cry of pain as the eruption sent her in the air. She had no time to recover as Cynthia jumped into the air, aiming a knee as Wendy's spine, causing Wendy's eyes to widen. Cynthia then aimed a harsh axe kick onto Wendy's stomach, slamming the sky dragon into the ground, creating a semi large crater on impact. "Ugh…"

Cynthia landed on the ground, right in front of Wendy. Cynthia grabbed Wendy by the collar of her shirt, giving an emotionless stare into Wendy's eyes. "I must…follow Master Aiden's orders…I must destroy you…"

"C-CYNTHIA! STOP!" Chelia screamed out.

Cynthia raised her hand, and then stopped, looking over to the side, noticing a black, rectangular box had fallen out of Wendy's pocket. Instead of prying Cynthia's hand away, Wendy reached for the box, opening it up immediately; showing the pendant Cynthia gave her just hours before that had the words "Friends Forever" on it. "S-See this…Look at it Cynthia…! Remember!?"

"W-What is that...?" Cynthia's eyes widened slightly as the memory rushed into her head."T-That's…!"

{Flashback}

"Because, I wanted to give you something," Cynthia nodded slowly. "I remember…when we first met…you were so eager to show me around and all…I feel kinda bad for being so reluctant about it before…"

"You don't have to feel bad, Cynthia," Wendy said with a reassuring smile. "I didn't understand it at first, but I still just wanted you to feel comfortable. Now that I understand what you went through, you don't have to feel bad."

Cynthia shook her head slowly, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Heh…yeah…I did feel comfortable around you. I was a little scared at first because you were a stranger, but I could tell you were a really sweet girl, so I trusted myself to trust you, and I can say that was one of the best decisions I've been able to make in my life since I escaped…"

Wendy blushed slightly from Cytnhia's words, her smile growing. "Cynthia…"

"Oh!" Cynthia reached into her back pocket, pulling out a small rectangular shaped box. "I made this for you, for your birthday."

Wendy took the box, opening it up slowly, her eyes widening when she saw what it was. Inside the box was a small pendant with the words "Friends Forever" on it. "Y-You made this…?"

"Mhm…" Cynthia nodded. "Do you like it…?"

Wendy closed the box, and then threw her arms around Cynthia, hugging her tightly. "I love it…! Thank you!"

Cynthia returned the tight hug, embracing Wendy in her arms. "You're welcome…" Cynthia closed her eyes, enjoying the hug for as long as it lasted. After a few minutes, Cynthia opened her eyes, looking up at the nearest clock. "Oh boy!" Cynthia pulled away from the hug. "We have to get going!"

{End Flashback}

Cynthia dropped Wendy, holding her head as she felt a warm feeling in her chest taking a few steps back. "W-Wendy…?"

"What the…? Fiore's End, what are you doing!? Destroy her!" Aiden shouted.

"Cynthia, don't listen to him! Listen to you!" Wendy shouted, standing up, holding her arm. "Remember your time with Fairy Tail…!"

"Don't listen to that brat, Fiore's End! She's trying to corrupt your mind! I gave you an ORDER AND YOU WILL FOLLOW IT!" Aiden shouted in a demanding tone.

"F-Fairy Tail…F-Fiore's End…" Cynthia clenched her eye shut, the red flames around her body flaring uncontrollably as Cynthia entered an inner struggle.

{Flashback}

"Where do you want your guild mark?" Makarov asked.

"U-Uh…uhm…!" Cynthia looked around, looking at where all the other members had their Fairy Tail guild mark. "I…uh…oh!" Cynthia pointed to her shoulder, grinning. "Right here, sir!"

Makarov nodded, pulling out a stamp, pressing the Fairy Tail symbol on Cynthia's shoulder. "You are now an official member of Fairy Tail," The old man said with a smile. "And you can call me Master from now on.

"YAY!" Wendy grinned, throwing her arms around Cynthia for a hug. "You're a member of Fairy Tail now! Now we can hang out more!"

"Y-Yeah!" Cynthia grinned, throwing her arms around Wendy.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Mirajane said with a sweet smile.

{End flashback}

"I...I…" Cynthia let out a scream of agony; the internal struggle was literally causing the young girl pain. She constantly walked around the room in a few short circles, groaning loudly as she attempted to fight herself.

{Flash back}

Cynthia's eyes widened a bit more as she moved her head to look up at Aiden, who was slowly pacing back and forth in the room, thinking of what he could do next that required Cynthia's power. "Yes, you. All because your friends cannot accept the fact that you're nothing more than a tool to be used, and you are in no way an individual of any sort." Cynthia flinched from the words as if they actually attacked her, starting to believe what was said was true.

{End flashback}

"W-Who am I?" Cynthia ask aloud as the memories of everything she's experienced in her life were flooding into Cynthia's head, all good and bad; her time in Fairy Tail, from just the few hours of her being nothing but a tool to be used. The flames around her body rose to the ceiling as everything flooded into her head. "I….I…" Cynthia stumbled around as she attempted to define what she was. "I…I…I am…" Cynthia snapped her eyes open, giving off a loud scream. "A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD!" The ground beneath her feet shattered as her red flames brightened, rising high into the sky, forming the Fairy Tail guild symbol.

"CYNTHIA…!" Wendy's face immediately lit up with a smile at Cynthia's words, walking slowly towards the tower of flame Cynthia created.

"W-WHAT!? THIS IS IMPOSSBILE…!" Aiden shouted in disbelief, reaching for something under his desk while covering his eyes from the bright flames.

The flames eventually formed into the shape of a dragon, which gave off an earth shaking roar. Cynthia's arms, legs, and her forehead were covered with dragon-like scales as she entered Dragon Force. The flames died down, and reentered her body, causing the girl to immediately return to normal as she fell forward. "Uh…"

"I got you…" Wendy caught Cynthia in her arms before she could fall, smiling widely.

"W-Wendy…" Cynthia opened her eyes slowly, revealing their normal sky blue color. She spoke with a with a weak smile.

"She did it…" Natsu's face lit up with a wide grin.

.

.

"Looks like that Sky Dragon is a lot stronger than I thought…" Luke said with a faint grin.

"I told you to believe in her," Lucy replied, waving a finger with the goofiest grin on her face.

"Looks like I was wrong…" Takeru hid the faint smile approaching his lips.

"I knew she could do it..." Erza said with a gentle smile.

.

.

"I told you I'd set you free…" Wendy said softly as she held Cynthia in her arms.

"I didn't think I'd…I'd become my own person…" Cynthia pulled away from the hug so she could face Wendy. "Wendy…I owe you…and I owe everyone who came here so much…" The joyous moment was cut short by a beam piercing into Cynthia's chest; around the area where her heart was, causing her eyes to go wide from shock, and she fell onto the ground on her back, Wendy holding her in her arms.

"CYNTHIA!" Wendy's jaw dropped at the sudden move. The beam retracted itself from Cynthia's chest, and went over to Aiden, who was holding some sort of laser beam in his hands; the tip of the beam revealing a spherical lacrima now floating in Aiden's hands.

"W-What is that!?" Natsu shouted.

"The lacrima that I created…it's certainly grown much more powerful…" Aiden replied with a smirk. Cynthia gave a weak cough, closing one eye as she felt her life slowly slipping away from her body after the lacrima in her body was forcibly removed. "JUST in case something like this happened, I was prepared."

Everyone ignored Aiden for the time being as their focus went to Cynthia. "C-CYNTHIA…!" Wendy looked down at Cynthia, feeling the fire dragon slayer's body started to grow cold. "H-Hold on…!" Wendy placed her hands over Cynthia's body, attempting to heal the girl before the worst could happen.

Cynthia coughed, closing one eye as she shook her head slowly. "D-Don't…waste your energy…" Cynthia replied.

"N-NO! Stop talking! I'll heal you, don't worry!" Wendy spoke fast, shaking her head as tears started to form in her eyes. "C-Chelia…Help me…!" "

"LET US OUT DAMN YOU!" Natsu continued throwing wild punches at the force field around him along with Chelia, but the two together were just unable to shatter the powerful barrier separating them from Wendy and Cynthia.

"Wendy…" Cynthia looked up at Wendy, her breathing slowing down.

"D-Don't talk, Cynthia…we can get you out of here safely…I swear…!" Wendy replied, fighting back the tears.

"I…I wanted to thank Fairy Tail…for…for showing me true kindness…" Cynthia started, a tear welling up in her eye, but she fought it back. "I also wanted to thank White Eclipse…for proving my point earlier…"

"S-Stop talking like that…! I-I mean it!" Wendy said; her voice starting to crack as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"H-Hey…don't cry…" Cynthia said weakly. "Tears don't look good on you…and you shouldn't cry on your birthday…"

"C-Cynthia…D-Don't leave me…" Wendy sniffled, ignoring Cynthia's words as the tears continued rolling down her cheeks, grabbing a hold of Cynthia's left hand.

"M-Mind if I ask…what you wished for…?" Cynthia gave a soft cough.

Wendy blinked a few times, and then realized that Cynthia was talking about. The wish she made on her birthday cake. "I…I wished for you…t-to be happy...B-But my wish…it didn't come true…"

"That…That's not true…" Cynthia shook her head slowly. "I…I was happy…that moment…I fell into your arms…that's when I learned what it meant to live…" Cynthia's eyes started to close slowly, but she fought to keep them open for as long as she could. Wendy's eyes widened at Cynthia's word; she was speechless. Wendy's jaw hung open as the tears started to fall faster. Cynthia raised her right hand into the air, pointing out her index finger and her thumb. As she did that, a radiant blue flame appeared on her left hand, the one Wendy was holding. "These…are the flames that were inside me…when I was in Fairy Tail…the flames of friendship…Fairy Tail…will always…be my home…and you will always be my best friend, Wendy..." Cynthia's eyes closed slowly, and her hand hit the ground, her body going limp.

"C-CYNTHIAAAA!" Wendy's let out a scream as she started wailing, the tears flowing down her cheeks nonstop. "NOO!"

Natsu and Chelia stopped moving, their body's freezing as they watched Cynthia die right in front of them. "S-She…" Chelia started, unable to finish as she choked back the words. While this was happening, Aiden interested the Omega Fire Dragon lacrima into his own body, grinning from the intense power boost he felt from it.

"S-She's…" Aira's eyes widened.

"Did he really just…" Reve was taken aback.

Laxus actually gasped from the event that just took place, his eyes widening as he took a step back. "W-WHAT...!?"

"Tell me, Wendy Marvell…" Aiden started as red flames surrounded his body. "How does it feel to know YOU are the reason Cynthia no longer walks this planet. Wendy's eyes widened even more, placing her face into Cynthia's stomach as she wailed even louder.

"WENDY, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Natsu roared, trying harder than before to shatter the force field.

"It's true, Dragneel," Aiden replied. "Had Wendy and Cynthia not formed as strong a bond as they did, Cynthia wouldn't have reacted as strongly as she did to Wendy's torture. That's the reason that girl is now dead; friendship."

SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Natsu reared his fist back, throwing a raged filled punch at the force field, actually shattering it with his bare hands. Natsu then jumped forward, flames and lightning surrounding his body as he used every ounce of magical energy he had and lunged forward with a Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn. Chelia followed behind Natsu as black wind surrounded her hands.

"Oh, excellent practice…" As Natsu came in, Aiden shifted his upper body to the side, allowing Natsu to pass him. Before Natsu could go too far, Aiden grabbed Natsu's scarf, pulling him back and slammed a red fire knee into Natsu's chin. Natsu fell back onto the ground, his eyes pure white from KO.

"Natsu!" Chelia looked down at Natsu, and then glared at Aiden, rushing towards him.

"Ah…Sky God Slayer…" Aiden allowed Chelia to close in, analyzing her body as he looked for vital points. He knew Chelia had the ability to heal herself, so he focused his eyes on one particular spot of her body, aiming for a single hit knock out. Aiden pulled his fist back, avoiding Chelia's swipe, and then aimed his fist at Chelia's chest. The sky slayer's eyes widened before rolling to the back of her head, hitting the ground on her back as she fell unconscious. "Excellent. With this power, I'll take the role of Fiore's End myself! This is the true power of the Omega Fire Dragon! HAHAHA!"

"…This isn't good…" Sidney said; his tone actually somewhat worried. Gildarts and Jura were still attempting to break through the force field, but they were unable to. Sidney tried to use his ghostly magic to phase through the shield, but that too failed.

Wendy continued to wail into Cynthia's lifeless body, feeling as though her heart had been ripped from her body. She trembled uncontrollably. She then looked down, realizing that Cynthia left the blue flame in her hands. "Cynthia…" Wendy sniffled softly before thinking to herself. "You weren't able to enjoy life to the fullest…you always had that darkness following you…Fairy Tail was the light to your darkness, and even then…he followed you there…I won't let that darkness follow you into death…I swear it…" Wendy opened her mouth, starting to inhale the blue flame Cynthia left behind.

"Hm…?" Aiden looked over at Wendy as she consumed the blue flame. "What's this…?"

'"I will let you rest in peace…" Wendy finished consuming the blue flame, and turned aroud to face Aiden, a blue dragon of flames appearing behind Wendy as scales formed on her forehead, arms, and legs, entering Dragon Force.

"Oh? You're using that faulty power Cynthia created called friendship?" Aiden chuckled lightly. "That's cute…but I'll have you know that the power I have is Cynthia's REAL power."

Wendy shook her head slowly, glaring up at Aiden. "Cynthia's real power…is these flames…You're the darkness that pushed her to death…I'll let her rest in peace…"

"Oh? Well, if you feel so confident about that, how about we finish things right here? Let's see which of these flames are stronger then…" Aiden smirked with a cool expression as the two stood off against each other. The fate of Fiore in the balance.


	82. Final Chapter: Flames That Never Die

A large explosion covered the entire top of the tower; Wendy placed her hand on the ground as she slid across the metallic floor, looking towards Aiden as blue fire winds surrounded her. Wendy took a deep breath, immediately throwing her head forward, unleashing radiant blue vortex of wind and fire towards Aiden. "Sky Dragon's Roar!"

"Hmph!" Aiden puffed his cheeks out as a vortex of red fire surrounded his mouth. "Roar…" Aiden then threw his head forward, unleashing a funnel of red fire towards Wendy's roar. "Of the Omega Fire Dragon!" The two roars clashed in the center of the room, immediately causing a whirlwind to pick up before the two roars exploded, creating a think gray smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Aiden was smirking slightly, examining his body as the red flames flared around him. "Hm, I have to admit, this magic is quite impressive. I really outdid myself when creating this; it's a shame Cynthia was unable to handle a simple task such as destroying a few wizards…" Aiden sighed before looking over to the unconscious Natsu and Chelia.

"Cynthia wasn't your tool!" Wendy replied, clenching her fist as she looked over at Cynthia's dead body. "She was a Fairy Tail Wizard! She said so herself!" Wendy raised her arms over her head and spread them apart, unleashing sharp whirlwinds of blue winds coated with radiant blue fire. "Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!"

"Keh, I had this all planned from this start," Aiden replied, smirking devilishly as Wendy's attack came in. "Nothing will stop me from destroying Fiore, and then rebuilding it under MY control!" Aiden ran forward, swiftly dodging all of Wendy's Dragon Force boosted Wing Slashes, much to the girl's surprise, and threw his leg forward, landing a sharp kick to Wendy's side. Wendy let out a yelp of pain as the kick connected, sending her over to the side, but she recovered her side, wincing slightly as she held her side. "You may as well give up now, Marvel!" Aiden replied, rushing to the girl with a barrage of skillfully aimed punches and kicks.

"Never!" Wendy replied, ignoring the pain ringing in her body from her previous battles as she engaged in close combat with the mad scientist who became the Omega Fire Dragon. Wendy managed to dodge most of Aiden's attacks, blocking the rest as others slipped through, causing her to let out a soft grunt. She was determined to finish what Cynthia was unable to. Upon dodging a punch, Wendy puffed her cheeks out and unleashed a Sky Dragon's Roar directly on Aiden, the attack catching him off guard as he took the hit directly to the chest, now propelling towards the empty air space.

"Annoying little!" Aiden twisted his body in midair, pointing himself towards Wendy as red flames surrounded his body. "Omega Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Aiden smirked as he dove head first towards the girl. Wendy saw such a thing coming once the flames covered Aiden's body, so she quickly jumped to the side, allowing the male to hit the ground, creating a dust cloud. But before the dust cleared, Aiden lunged from the smoke, landing a heavy punch on the young girl, sending her hurtling into the nearest wall.

.

.

"And here I thought I was the only copycat…" Luke said while watching Wendy and Aiden do battle.

"Cynthia learned some of her moves by watching Natsu…and Aiden learned what he knows by watching Cynthia…" Lucy replied, frowning slightly.

"We have to go help her!" Aira shouted.

"Like we can even muster the energy to do so…" Luke replied, pointing at the scar on his stomach. "I can't even move…"

"Hell…that little girl did more damage to me than I thought…" Cygnus replied, sitting cross legged on the ground. "There's gotta be something we can do to help her, right?"

"Telling by our condition, all we can really do is hope for the best…" Selene stated. Though she did have magic energy, her body was in no condition for any serious movement.

"I can smell Sidney…" Takeru said.

"So it wasn't just me…" Waiston replied to Takeru.

"Your ace?" Gray asked looking over at the White Eclipse mages. "What's he doing here?!"

"I don't know," Luke replied. "But, something must be wrong if he isn't in that room fucking up that crazy bastard…"

"I smell Gildarts too…" Waiston said.

"Gildarts?!" Lucy gasped. "He's here…?! But how…he left…!?"

"Does that really matter?" Luke interrupted. "Something must be in the way if neither of them is in that room right now…"

.

.

Those at Fairy Tail could only watch the battle between Aiden and Wendy. Though Makarov was still livid on the inside and out, he had to have faith that Wendy would be able to finish this mess. Makarov raised his finger into the air, pointing his index finger and thumb out. There was nothing he could say, so he let his actions speak for him. The other members in Fairy Tail noticed the famous hand sign, and followed suit with their master, chanting "GO WENDY!"

.

.

"Master, do you see what's happening!?" Kuro asked, pointing to the large lacrima screen playing over Fiore.

"Yes, I do…" Calium replied. "I'm worried about that child," Calium continued. "She has the drive and power to fight…but I don't think her power can compare to that of which the scientist has…"

"That's crazy!" Kuro said with widened eyes. "She's gotta be able to do it!"

"She is a strong child," Taya nodded slowly, thinking back to the mission in the forest.

"That may be true…" Calium started slowly. "But there is always someone stronger…and I pray that this isn't the situation where that's true…"

.

.

"I hate standing around and not doing anything about this!" Gildarts shouted in frustration, still attempting to get through the powerful force field blocking the three mages from entering the laboratory where the battle was taking place.

"I agree, Gidlarts-dono," Jura replied with a sigh. "If only we could get passed this force field, we would be able to help Wendy-dono in her battle…"

"She has no chance of winning," Sidney said, his tone completely serious.

"What are you saying!?" Gildarts asked; looking over at Sidney with an angered looked.

"You heard me, Clive," Sidney replied, looking Gildarts right in the eyes with a serious facial expression. "She can try, but she won't win. That scientist is stronger than her in every way."

"Sidney-dono," Jura started calmly. "I think you should have faith in Wendy-dono; she is a strong girl."

"You're asking me to have false faith?" Sidney simply shrugged, turning his head to the lacrima screen to watch the battle more intently than he was letting on. "Once that scientist wins, we do whatever it takes to kill him."

.

.

Wendy shook her head slowly, shaking off the most recent impact she took, groaning softly. "Ugh…" When she looked up, she saw Aiden coming in with a flaming fist; reacting by instinct, Wendy placed her arms in front of her in an X formation to soften the blow of the hit. Though the blow was slightly softened, she still slid back across the metallic floor a few feet. Before she could react to anything else, Aiden grasped her left arm tightly, smirking.

"Heh…" Aiden allowed the red flames around his body to flare dangerously around the hand holding Wendy's arm, thus burning the girl's arm severely in the process. Wendy let out a sharp scream of pain as the fire started to easily incinerate the material on her sleeve.

"S-STOP!" Wendy cried out, her eyes closed as she tried tugging her arm away from Aiden's grasps, but it was to no avail. Aiden laughed for a few seconds before throwing Wendy to the side, letting the girl fall on her face. Wendy's arm let off a thin cloud of steam for a few seconds before the girl slowly stood up, her eyes widening at her arm. It was indeed severely burned, and it hurt her just trying to move it. "M-My arm…!"

"Oh? Did I did do that?" Aiden smirked at the sight of Wendy's arm, and even more at her reaction. He then swiped his hand a few times in the air, creating the Japanese symbol for fire in front of him. "Flame Burst…" the symbol then launched multiple copies of it and eventually moved forward on its own towards Wendy.

"No…!" Wendy did all she could really do with barely having use of one arm. She frantically ran off to the side as the symbols hit the areas behind her, causing large fiery explosions. At the last one, she rolled off to the side, wincing noticeably from her burnt arm and puffed her cheeks out, unleashing yet another Dragon Force boosted Sky Dragon's Roar towards Aiden.

"Tch…" Aiden was a little upset his attack failed to make contact, but he simply told himself that he had this entire battle to end the stubborn Sky Dragon Slayer, so a grin appeared on his face as he allowed flames to cover his body once more, taking the shape of a wheel as he rolled forward towards Wendy. "Flame Wheel!"

Wendy was very annoyed that Aiden was just using Cynthia's power without any kind of remorse, but she couldn't think about that now as Aiden was rolling towards her at a speed that made it nearly impossible for her to dodge in her current position. Without thinking, she placed both of her arms up, holding them out as Aiden collided with them. Wendy yelped out, not from the impact, but from the pain shooting through her burnt arm. She knew she was going to have a difficult time in this battle with a nearly useless arm, but she had to keep trying. She gritted her teeth, planting her feet firmly into the broken steel floor as she held her ground firmly, eventually pushing Aiden back a few yards. "Ugh…" Wendy fell to her knees, panting heavily. "My arm…this isn't good…"

Aiden stood straight, hiding any signs of fatigue from Wendy, just smirking over at her, despite the variously sized bruise marks and cuts on his body. "What's wrong, Sky Dragon Slayer? Is the power of the Omega Fire Dragon too much for you?" He asked with a mocking tone, not even wasting his breath for a laugh.

"YOU'RE NOT THE OMEGA FIRE DRAGON!" Wendy stood up quickly, lunging towards Aiden in a blind rage. "YOU TOOK CYNTHIA'S MAGIC! YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" The wind found itself wrapping around Wendy's fist along with radiant blue fire from the flames of friendship Wendy consumed as Wendy threw multiple punches towards Aiden using both her arms, ignoring the pain in the burnt one. Aiden only laughed at Wendy's yelling as he swayed his body from left to right, occasionally taking a step back, completely avoiding every punch Wendy threw at him. At an incoming punch, Aiden grabbed Wendy's arm once again, and to his surprise, it was the one he brunt relentless not too long ago. This caused a smirk to appear on his face as flames appeared on his hands once again, sending vicious red flames to engulf Wendy's arm. "Got you…!" While Aiden was so focused on burning Wendy, Wendy slammed her fist into Aiden's gut, causing his eyes to widen.

"W-What…!?" Aiden grunted as he kept a tight grip on Wendy's arm, but in return, Wendy pushed her fist into Aiden's stomach, not aiming to pierce through, but the option was certainly there and she wasn't afraid to take it. Eventually, Aiden had enough and threw Wendy harshly to the ground, taking a few steps back as he looked at the mark on his stomach, growling slightly at the downed Wendy.

.

.

"Wendy!" Erza stood up immediately, but fell back over, cursing under her breath.

"There's no way we're gonna make it up there in time even if we didn't get our asses handed to us…" Zalen groaned. "It's too far up…"

"If she doesn't win…" Reve started.

"She's going to win…" Mirajane interrupted Reve. "She's a Fairy Tail Wizard…she can win…!"

"As a man, I have to agree with my older sister!" Elfman nodded.

.

.

Aiden glanced at his arms and the flames surrounding them, frowning just slightly. "Hn…this magic isn't as strong as I thought it would be…"

"T-That's because…" Wendy started, her body slowly stirring as she lifted her head up, placing her good arm on the floor as she tried to push herself up. "It's not the magic that makes one strong…it's the mage…" Wendy stood up slowly, taking heavy pants as she closed one eye shut, hunching over.

"What the…?" Aiden let out a low growl of annoyance as Wendy stood up. "How are you still standing?!"

Wendy completely ignored Aiden's question as she went on. "Cynthia…she could make the most of that magic because it was a part of her…you just took it from her…it may be strong…but it's stronger when it was her...because her magic was her emotions…you don't have any of those…"

"That's complete and utter bullshit!" Aiden screamed back, very irritated that Wendy had the audacity to talk to him like that. "I created this magic, and it should be strong with me! She doesn't matter!"

Wendy stayed silent for a few moments before it finally hit her, why Aiden treated Cynthia the way he did, why he kept her cooped up like this. "I…I finally get it…"

"Get what!?" Aiden snarled.

"You were afraid of Cynthia…" Wendy said with a slight smirk. "That's why…you knew she would reach the point where she had enough, and reach the point where she would attack you. You say you made her unable to do so because it was the smart thing to do…but in reality, you were afraid…you were afraid that one day she would gain control over herself…and that's exactly what she did not too long ago…"

"NONSENSE!" Aiden pounded his fist together angrily, the flames on his body intensifying. "I FEAR NO ONE! And look at yourself! Do you really think you can continue this battle! You can't even use that arm now, can you?" Aiden said, pointing to Wendy's severely burnt arm.

"It doesn't matter how many arms I have…" Wendy said, opening her mouth to inhale the air around the two once more, restoring her magical power slowly. "I made her a promise…as a Fairy Tail wizard…and as her best friend…I will let her rest in peace…AND I WON'T GO BACK ON THAT PROMISE!" Wendy puffed her cheeks out, snapping her head forward as she released a powerful Dragon Force boosted Sky Dragon's Roar towards Aiden.

"Stubborn…!" Aiden crossed his arms; the Sky Dragon's roar slamming into him and pushing him back. When Wendy stopped breathing, Aiden decided it was time to end this battle. The flames around his body flared intensely as his sleeves started to incinerate; his arms starting to scaly along with the sides of his face. Wendy's eyes widened as she just remembered second generation Dragon Slayers had the ability to use Dragon Force at will. At Wendy's expression, Aiden could tell that Wendy knew what was about to happen. "Oh, you looked surprised…" Aiden took a step forward, and in a flash appeared behind Wendy, not back to back with her. "I think it's time for this to end, don't you…?" He said in a hushed whisper before grabbing Wendy by the back of her neck and threw her into the air. With his increased speed, Aiden was able to meet Wendy in the air, his fist raised above his head as he slammed them into her back; Wendy let out a loud shriek of pain as she hit the metal floor face first, but she had no time to recover as Aiden picked her up by her hair, hurling her over to the other side of the room, running alongside her body as he started to move like a blur; all that could be seen was Wendy's body knocked around like a rag doll.

.

.

"Dragon Force…!" Lucy gasped.

"Shit, that's really not good…" Gray didn't care if he could barely walk, he was damn sure gonna try.

"Gray, what are you doing!?" Aira asked.

"Wendy's in serious trouble and no one's able to help her! I don't care if my body ain't up for a serious fight; I have to do something now!"

"R-Right…!" Lucy nodded, standing up slowly with most of the pain in her former injuries. "We have to help Wendy…!"

"You two are idiots…" Takeru responded, sighing at Lucy and Gray.

"What was that?!" Gray asked in a threatening tone, daring Takeru to repeat himself.

"I didn't stutter," Takeru replied, unfazed by Gray's threat. "Even if we WERE in condition to fight, what makes you think we would get there fast enough? We're still on the first floor of this damn tower, and they're all the way to the top.

"If Cynthia wasn't forced to shoot down the ship we would've had a chance…" Luke replied.

"We can't just sit here though!" Aira cried out. "Wendy's in danger…she…she might not make it out of this…!"

"She's a Fairy Tail wizard…" Gray replied. "She can do it…"

"We have to believe in her…" Lucy nodded slowly.

.

.

Wendy let out consistent cries of pain every time Aiden landed a powerful hit. She was unable to retaliate due to the fact she was unable to recover in time. Wendy landed on the ground on her feet for once, thinking she had a chance to start her counter attack…but she was dead wrong. Aiden appeared from behind her, his leg engulfed in flames; the scientist swung his leg up, smashing it into Wendy's back, sending her into the air. Though damaged, Wendy finally used this time to turn around, now in an ample position for a counter attack. She threw her good arm out, preparing herself for a Sky Dragon's Wing Slash. "Sky Dragon's-"

"Nope!" Aiden snapped his fingers, causing multiple red magic circles to appear around Wendy's body. Before the girl could even let out the sharpest of gasps, the flames shot out from the circles and exploded on her on impact. Wendy fell out air, a trail of smoke following her; she hit the ground on her back, groaning loudly.

"U-Ugh…" Wendy whimpered from the pain shooting throughout her body. She wasn't going to make such a speedy recovery this time around, so all she could do was just lie on the floor until she could get up. Aiden wasn't planning on giving her that time however. Aiden pointed his hand out as a fireball started to form, slowly growing in size.

"Well, this was fun, Sky Dragon…but I do believe I have a country to destroy at take over…" Aiden nodded slowly, aiming the fire ball at Wendy.

"MAX SPEED!"

"What…?" Aiden turned his head at the sound of the voice; a mistake for him as Happy flew by, slamming right into Aiden's face, causing him to release the fireball prematurely, sending it just to Wendy's left, and causing an explosion. This explosion occurred near Cynthia's body, and a hole in the floor appeared, allowing the body to fall through into the depths of the tower once more.

"Wendy!" Carla flew in, grabbing Wendy and lifting her into the sky. "W-WHAT HAPPENED?!" Carla glanced around at the KO'ed Chelia and Natsu, and the dead body of Cynthia falling into the floor.

"C-Carla…" Wendy let out a soft sigh of relief, wincing from the stinging pain of her burnt arm.

"LILY!" Happy shouted.

"Lily?" Aiden looked up, just in time for him as Patherlily came in with his enlarged sword, just barely managing to grab it as Lily swung. "Oh…Exceeds…I see…" Aiden quickly turned the tables on Patherlily by unleashing a point-blank Omega Fire Dragon's roar on the fighting Exceed, blowing him back into a wall into his normal, cute state.

"Lily!" Happy gasped, lifting up the KO'ed Natsu from the ground.

"Oh, what do you think you're doing?" Aiden snapped his fingers, causing multiple red magic circles to appear around Happy. Before the Exceed could escape, the fire exploded on him, causing both him and Natsu to drop to the ground, heavily injured.

"N-Natsu-san…! Happy!" Wendy's eyes widened. She then looked over her shoulder towards Carla, who nodded.

"Right…" Carla started to fly around the room in a clockwise motion as fast as she could, allowing Wendy to recover enough energy to unleash a powerful Sky Dragon's Roar towards Aiden.

"You just don't learn do you!?" Aiden slid to the side, just barely avoiding the roar, allowing the explosion it caused to cover his person. A few seconds later, a large fire ball shot out from the smoke cloud towards the dragon slayer and the exceed.

"Wendy look out!" Carla dropped Wendy, and that's when everything went in slow motion. Wendy's eyes widened as the fire ball exploded on Carla, dropping her beloved exceed down the ground, covered in severe burn marks. Wendy landed on the ground on her feet, but not before the tears started welling up again. Just how many people had to get hurt to save her!?

"C-CARLA!" Wendy ran over to Carla. Carla was still breathing, though it was light. The same could be said for every other body in the room excluding Cynthia's. "W-Why…!?"

"Because you're not strong enough to protect them," Aiden replied bluntly, puffing his cheeks out as he took a slow, long inhale, gathering a massive vortex of fire in his mouth.

"S-SHUT UP!" Wendy rushed forward without even thinking.

"It was fun, girly…" Aiden threw his head forward, unleashing the massive funnel of fire in Wendy's direction. Wendy's eyes widened as the attack neared her, and it exploded on contact, shaking the entire tower, creating a massive smoke cloud. When the smoke cleared, Wendy was on the ground, not moving an inch.

.

.

"W-WENDY!" Lucy gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

"Shit…that's REALLY not good…" Luke said with a nervous voice.

.

.

"My point exactly…" Sidney said with a nonchalant tone.

"Wendy, get up!" Gildarts screamed, trying his absolute best and more to shatter the force field, but no matter what, it wasn't leaving.

.

.

Wendy's mind wandered the darkness as she started to fade in and out. She could feel the tears streaming down her cheeks at her pathetic effort to avenge her friend. "I'm sorry…Cynthia…I wasn't strong enough…" Wendy laid on the ground, slowly accepting that she had reached her limit.

"It seems I was right after all," Aiden said with a smirk. "This is Cynthia's real power…though, I'm somewhat disappointed…is that REALLY all the "Flames of Friendship" had to offer? That's quite pathetic…"

" 'Fraid not…" Natsu said weakly.

"What…? You're awake…?" Aiden looked over at Natsu with an amused looked. "Interesting."

"Wendy…!" Natsu couldn't move his body, but he projected his voice as powerfully as he could, hoping he could get through to Wendy. "What are you doing!? Don't just lie there! Show him the real power of friendship…! Show him that bond you have with Cynthia!"

Aiden couldn't help but laugh at Natsu's little speech, shaking his head slowly. "Cute, Salamander, but I highly doubt…" Aiden would've continued, but he saw Wendy slowly standing up.

"…I made a promise…" Wendy mumbled under her breath as she stood up once again, hearing Natsu's words loud and clear. "AND I WON'T BREAK IT!" Wendy let out a loud battle cry, causing the wing and radiant blue fire around her person to rise into the air, well above the tower. Some of the ground underneath the dragon slater shattered and rose into the sky as she yelled.

"W-What the hell is that!?" Aiden said with a shaky voice.

"That's the real power of friendship!" Natsu said with a smirk.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy threw her head forward, unleashing a massive blue fire and wind hurricane towards Aiden.

"You just don't learn do you!?" Aiden reared his head back, throwing it forward as he unleashed an Omega Fire Dragon's Roar; the two roars clashed for a split second before Wendy's overpowered Aiden's, the roar slamming back into him as he flew back. Aiden had no time to recover as Wendy came in with a harsh punch across Aiden's jawline, throwing him back even farther, but the male managed to flip and catch himself in the air. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Aiden covered himself in red flames, launching himself towards Wendy.

"THIS IS FOR CYNTHIA!" The wind surrounded Wendy's body as she charged headfirst towards Aiden, the two colliding in the middle, causing a large tornado of fire and wind to spiral into the sky, shaking the entire area. The two remained in a deadlock until Wendy let out yet another loud scream, this one as loud as a dragon's, causing her power to skyrocket, overtaking the spiraling tornado as she suddenly appeared behind Aiden, as if she went right through him. All remained silent for a moment as neither battler move…they just stood there…until one fell over…Aiden.

.

.

"SHE DID IT!" Lucy jumped for joy, ignoring the pain in her injuries.

"Holy…shit…" Luke blinked a few times, completely taken aback by Wendy's strength.

"I can't say I saw that coming…" Waiston let out a silly laugh.

"Wow…she's strong…" Aira stared in amazement.

.

.

"Well I'll be damned…" Reve said with a slightly surprised tone.

"I honestly didn't think she had it in her…" Zalen nodded slowly.

"She's part of Fairy Tail, of course she had it in her," Erza nodded slowly, feeling extremely proud of Wendy.

.

.

"I can hear it…the sounds of victory…" Cobra nodded slowly. "Back to my cell it is…"

.

.

"She did it…" Cana grinned, taking the last can from Jack's pack and chugged it down. "I knew she could do it!"

"Well…*hic* I'll be damned…!" Jack nodded, lying on his back from the alcohol he consumed.

"Amazing…" Warren said with his jaw hanging.

.

.

"She did it!" Fairy Tail went into an uproar, their cheers filling the entirety of what remained of Magnolia Town.

"Did you ever have a doubt?" Makarov said with a grin.

.

.

"You were saying?" Gildarts looked over at Sidney with a smirk, the force field in front of them finally vanishing.

"…" Sidney just nodded at Gildarts, accepting the fact that Gildarts was right after all.

"Look," Jura pointed towards the vanishing force field.

.

.

"…Did that little girl just…" Zain stood in shock.

"Holy hell…" Michio dropped his waffle, looking up at the screen.

"That was amazing!" Nami shouted gleefully. "She's strong alright!"

"Looks like I stand corrected…" Calium mumbled under his breath.

.

.

"I-Incredible…" Doranbolt stood in complete shock, much more than the others had.

"I wasn't aware she had that much power within her…" Aloy mumbled to himself.

.

.

Wendy panted heavily, the scales on her body fading away along with the blue fire. "I did it…Cynthia…" Wendy threw her hand up, giving the Fairy Tail symbol, lasting for a good few seconds before she finally passed out.

_"Wendy…I'm so proud…and happy…I can call you…my best friend…" _

.

.

Wendy's eyes opened slowly, her vision blurry as she looked around. She could tell she was in an infirmary bed, but for how long? She tried moving both her arms, and she was able to, but she winced noticeably. "O-Ow…"

"You're awake…!" Lucy grinned, her body covered in bandages.

"L-Lucy-san…?" Wendy lifted her head up slowly. "W-What happened…?"

"You've been out for five days…" Lucy nodded slowly. "We're all still recovering from it too. Thanks to Aira and Chelia, everyone's doing great!"

"That's great…!" Wendy nodded, and then looked down, realizing this situation was almost perfect. "Oh…" Wendy took a heavy sigh before realizing she had something around her neck. "Huh…?"

"What's that?" Lucy asked, tilting her head slowly.

"I…" Wendy brought the "Friends Forever" necklace into her hands, gasping slowly as the tears started to form. "W-What happened to the body…?"

"We don't know…" Lucy frowned slowly.

"O-Oh…" Wendy looked away slowly, glancing at the necklace in her hands.

"We're holding the funeral soon…" Lucy said quietly.

"I'll be there…" Wendy replied.

.

.

Silent Sanctum's guild was basically a large mansion hidden deep in the forest. The guild members held their heads down in shame as their master walked back and forth, shaking his head. Their master was a seemingly young male with short black hair, red eyes, and he wore a large jacket. "You had one job…" he said in an irritated tone.

"W-We apologize, Master…!" Veronica said, knowing what punishment was coming for failing a task.

"You should've been able to handle Fairy Tail," The master went on.

"We were able to! And then White Eclipse came along and…!" Byron started.

The master raised an eyebrow at Byron, and then turned to him. "Did you say White Eclipse?"

"U-Uh…Yes, I did…" Byron nodded slowly, gulping nervously. "W-Why do you ask…?"

"Because, that's my grandfather's guild…" The master replied.

"Calium?" Veronica asked, rubbing her arm slowly. "Wait…!"

"That's right…" the master nodded. "Master Calium, the Guild Master of White Eclipse is my father's father…"

"SO YOU'RE HIS!" Byron started.

"Jikan Calium. His grandson."

.

.

In the bowels of hell, the infamous dark guild, Tararus stood. Inside the castle that was the guild, the guild master, Daityas, paced around, quite unhappily. "One job," Daityas said repeatedly. "Yet a bunch of shitty fairies and that White Eclipse guild managed to defeat all of you?"

"Well…!" Tobias started.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, TOBIAS," Daityas yelled, instantly shutting the spell caster up.

"HA!" Kiora grinned.

"YOU TOO," Daityas screamed out, not bothering to hide his lividness. "I'm starting to wonder if any of you idiots can do anything right! UGH…Your presence just makes me what to burn something, and by something I mean all of you…"

"If I may…" A male with light red hair walked in, wearing a green hoodie and blue jeans.

"What is it, Mithril?" Daityas asked.

"Well…I was unable to find the body of the girl…." Mithril said.

"Tch…I see…I suppose it can't be helped…you idiots better do something to redeem yourselves otherwise I won't hesitate to shower you in hells flames…"

.

.

Everyone in Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, Blue Pegasus, and a few members of Lamia Scale, such as Jura and Chelia, stood at Cynthia's grave just on the outskirts of town. Everyone was indeed wearing black, and Natsu was the only one who had his shirt on backwards, but he didn't bother to fix it, he didn't feel up for it. "Here we are…" Lucy said quietly.

"This isn't very fun…" Kuro said with a sigh.

"Trust me, no one's having fun here…" Luke replied to Kuro. "I would be lying if I said I missed the girl…"

"She certainly was something…huh…" Aira commented, trying to give a fake smile.

"She didn't ask for any of it…" Selene said, but mostly to herself. "She was just a little girl…"

"Is everyone ready…?" Makarov asked quietly, looking around at all the visitors. Everyone nodded, and the old man cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today to remember one of Fairy Tail's mages. Though she wasn't a part of Fairy Tail for long, she was, and always will be a member of this family. I can't describe how I feel for being unable to protect one of my child…but I feel proud that she was able to call herself a proud member of Fairy Tail…I will never forget those words, and I'm sure none of us will forget Cynthia." Everyone in the crowd clapped slowly at Makarov's words, nodding in response. The old man was tearing up a bit, but he didn't want it to show, so he turned his head to the side. "Would anyone else like to say a few words…?"

Wendy nodded slowly, looking down at the ground. "I would, Master…"

"Come on up…" Makarov stepped down, allowing Wendy to take the stand.

Wendy took a deep breath before looking up at everyone with saddened eyes and a heartbroken expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but only tears fell from her eyes first. "C-Cynthia…she was a shy girl when we first met…but I could tell she was a nice girl, and I wanted to get to know her better…then I was poisoned, and she went out of her way to help me. And then she joined Fairy Tail…I can't even begin to describe how happy that made me feel, or the time I spent around her…I…" Wendy stopped, interrupting herself as she started crying again. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't protect you…!" Wendy ran from the stand and to a nearby tree.

"Wendy…" Carla frowned heavily at the sight of Wendy crying.

"Anyone else…?" Makarov said, frowning at the crying Wendy.

"YEAH!" A voice said from afar. "First off, Natsu, your shirt is on backwards!"

"What…?!" Natsu looked around at the sound of the voice.

"Second of all, black is such a sad color! I hate seeing so much of it in once place!" The voice continued.

"Who's saying that…?" Arc looked around slowly.

"AND FINALLY! WENDY, WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CRYING!? Tears don't look good on you at all!" The voice carried on.

Wendy stopped crying immediately, not wanting to believe the sound of the voice she heard. "T-That's…?"

Cynthia jumped down from the trees above, landing on her feet. "TA-DAH! Cynthia Rose of Fairy Tail, at your service!" Everyone's jaw dropped.

"W-WHAT!?" Zalen jumped back.

"G-GHOST!" Aira flailed her arms around.

"…That's not a ghost…" Sidney replied.

"Miss me!?" Cynthia grinned slowly, looking over at everyone.

"H-How?!" Luke stared in shock. "B-But…you…and then….with the…!?"

"Maybe I should keep it a secret," Cynthia said in a teasing tone.

"About time…" Chelia gave Jura a sly smirk.

"He did say it would take a while…" Jura replied with a nod.

"What are you two mumbling about?" Reve asked curiously.

"Well, first we used that laser thing Aiden had and took the lacrima out of his body, then put it back in Cynthia's. Then, We found someone who uses Revival Magic…he goes by the name Rayn Sansin," Jura nodded. "It wasn't easy, but we were able to find him, and he revived the girl."

"So that's where the body went…" Reve nodded slowly.

"Sssh…don't tell Wendy…!" Chelia flailed her arms. "Or anyone else!"

"Heh…My lips are sealed…" Reve replied.

"C-CYNTHIA!" Wendy threw herself into Cynthia's arms, unsure whether to cry from happiness or sadness.

"Sssh…" Cynthia embraced Wendy tightly. "It's okay Wendy…I'm here…"

"Well well well…" Correll walked into the scene, a smirk on his face. "I was here to pay my due respect, but it looks like I don't have to…"

"YOU!" Natsu quickly placed himself in front of Wendy and Cynthia.

"What do you want?" Laxus asked, glaring over at Correll.

"I just told you," Correll responded. "But, it seems the threat to Fiore is still at large…"

"She's not a threat anymore…" Doranbolt walked in behind Correll.

"You sure about that, speedster?" Correll asked with his magic sealing cuffs at the ready.

"I am," Doranbolt nodded. "She's a member of Fairy Tail."

Correll got the subtle message Doranbolt was giving, and smirked slightly. "I'll let you off the hook for now, Fairy Tail wizard…but if you screw up even once, you're mine…" Correll nodded slowly as he and Doranbolt walked off.

"Well gee…" Cynthia rolled her eyes slowly but couldn't help but smile. "Well…he's right about one thing though…I am a Fairy Tail Wizard. You guys are my family, and I love you all. And White Eclipse is like my second family!"

"I wouldn't go that far…" Luke started, rubbing the back of his head.

"Pssh! You guys came all the way just to save me! Second family!" Cynthia nodded.

"Oh boy…" Waiston sighed.

"Oh, and I have to promise you guys something!" Cynthia nodded vigorously, probably having more energy than a normal person should, but she was alive again with her family, so she couldn't help it.

"What's that?" Mirajane asked.

"I'll never leave you guys again. I promise."


End file.
